


The Supernatural and the Scientific

by Artdirector123



Series: Blue exorcist FMA crossover [2]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist, Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Demons, Gen, Parental Roy, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 72
Words: 291,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7657894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artdirector123/pseuds/Artdirector123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to "charges of the Flame Alchemist". After becoming a state alchemist Rin is discovering more and more that there is a great evil lying in wait just below the city of central. But what might this power be? And what are its plans for him and Yukio? Set mostly in brotherhood timeline with some aspects taken from earlier episodes of 2003.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something Rotten

“Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange….” Envy cracked up in laughter as he repeated the line every alchemist knew by heart, “Those pathetic little worms have those words set in stone as the basis of their entire science and yet they keep trying to prove it wrong! That Elric pipsqueak is supposed to be a genius and yet even he has wasted the last three years trying to find a way to do just that!” He cackled.   
“That’s what happens when you let emotions cloud your judgement,” Lust said smirking as they walked down the hall.  
“It’s insulting that we need those pathetic little beings so much,” Envy grumbled, “They can’t even do the simplest task without messing up! I can’t believe they screwed up number 48’s blood seal. We ended up wasting two prisoners on one suit of armor!”  
Lust shrugged. “It’s better than wasting the suit of armor. Those damn things are expensive. We have plenty more prisoners to put on the chopping block however,” she said, “If all we have to do is observe them to make sure nothing goes wrong in the future, then I see no reason to get too upset.”  
“Still a waste of our valuable time…” Envy grumbled, entering the observation deck, “plus this place smells like rotten eggs.” Several koaltars floated in the air around them, and more were on the laboratory floor. “Ugh, what are these things?” Envy hissed, swatting some away, “They keep appearing whenever we do another human transmutation. Why can’t we get rid of them?” Envy squashed one under his foot when it landed, but after a few seconds it popped back up and started hovering around again.  
Lust frowned at them. “I don’t know,” she said, “They appear harmless, however. Although it is disturbing that the humans seem unable to see them.”  
“Most of the humans,” Envy said grinning, “that Tucker guy can see them too. It’s been fun to watch him as he and everyone else around him thinks he’s going insane.” Lust raised an eyebrow before glancing down at the man on the lab floor below. He uncomfortably scooted out of the way of the floating black creatures while the other scientists were oblivious to them. They had recruited the man to help assist them in the creation of chimeras and the development of other forms of human transmutation. He had been more than willing as the other option was to be put to death.  
Now that everything was in place, they wheeled out the specimen and the suit of armor. Prisoner number 66, Barry the Chopper, was wheeled out as he was restrained to a long wooden board. He had been officially executed three years ago, but they had decided to keep him around for possible use in experiments. “What is this? No firing squad? No electric chair?” he called out into the room with a smile, “And here I was thinking I was going to go out with a bang!”  
“Oh, we have special plans for you, 66,” one of the scientist said. With that they began the process. Barry was wheeled into a transmutation circle on the ground. A man placed his hand on the circle and it began to glow and exude blue light. Barry screamed inhumanly and his body jerked about as his soul was ripped out of him. Someone was already drawing the blood seal before the first transmutation ended and Barry’s body became limp, yet still remained alive. The human husk drooled slightly in its new vegetative state.  
“Quickly! Before we lose the soul!” one of them cried. Tucker approached the newly drawn blood seal on the suit of armor, pressing a hand to it and holding a philosopher’s stone with the other. The stone glowed as red lightning sparked from the circle inside. Once he was finished, he removed his hand and put the helmet back on the suit. Two soulfire eye started glowing in the eye sockets of the helmet. The restrained suit of armor shook a little. “Ugh, well that certainly was fun,” the suit announced in Barry’s voice, “But I don’t think you understand the concept of an execution…” He then looked to his left and saw his own body, restrained to a board. “Wait a minute, is that my body?!” he cried in surprise, “That is! How did you manage to do that? Was I drugged? Or is this some weird new form of execution where I get to watch you kill me? I hope it's the last one. That I’d like to see! You better make it good though. Someone get me some popcorn!” The suit continued to babble and the scientist congratulated each other.  
“Take them away,” one of the scientist said. Two guards came and wheeled the body and metal-bound soul away in opposite directions. Envy stretched and got up, ready to leave with Lust. They had just gotten to the door when Envy paused and sniffed the air.   
“Do you smell that?” he said scrunching up his nose, “Ulgh! Is it just me or does it reak in here of mold?!” Before Lust could respond, there was a low rumble and the room shook slightly. The two homunculi froze as the lights flickered. One by one they went out until only the emergency lights were left. The room became cold all of a sudden. Very cold. Had they been human, the homunculi would be shivering. Lust’s brow furrowed as she tried the to process what was going on.  
“What the-?!” she heard Envy’s voice crack. She turned to see him backing away from the control deck of the observation room. The controls were covered in a thick layer of fungus. Mushrooms, mildew, and cordyceps crawled across the panels, along the floor, and covered the door, blocking their exit. Lust tried to slash them with her ultimate spear, but they just grew back. Some of the growth even tried to cling to her as her fingers raked through it.  
“What the hell is this…” she hissed as they backed over to the window. They both glanced out to see what was going on on the lab floor below. The koaltars were now in a swarm, high above everyone. The scientists were in a panic. A few of them coughed and hacked, choking on the foul stench before passing out. Most were not so lucky. One suddenly cried out in pain and confusion as his body twisted in agony. He started puking as his body became covered in black, plague ridden boils. The man cried out for help before collapsing to the ground, convulsing in pain before blacking out. One by one, more began to face a similar fate, suddenly contracting the fatal bubonic bacteria at an impossible rate, until no one on the lab floor was left conscious.  
The homunculi were confused, enraged, and slightly scared at the events currently transpiring. They stood back to back, glancing around desperately trying to figure out what was going on and how to stop it. Then, a low, rumbling laughter filled the air.  
“Who’s there?!” Envy demanded, voice seething with rage and frustration, “How did you get in here?!”  
“How did I get in?” the deep voice repeated in amusement calling from the lab floor, “Why, you invited me here!” Both homunculi turned to see one of the bodies slowly get up. “I’m so glad you let me in. I’ve been dying to get here for some time,” it spoke from the man's mouth, but the voice was completely different, “Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you.”   
Envy growled at him and was ready to respond with a biting remark, but lust stopped him, giving him a look of warning. “Who are you?” she demanded, “What is it that you want?”   
“I suppose introductions are in order,” the voice responded, “My name is Astaroth, king of rot, and I have a deal to make with you!” The two homunculi looked at eachother for a moment as if considering their options silently. Finally they nodded and decided to listen. It wasn’t as if they had much of a choice anyways…  
….


	2. Et tu

Three months later….  
“So Liore was a total sham….” Rin said, taking a bite from his apple as Ed put a giant X through the town on the map, “Just like the priest and his freaky sun cult.” Rin frowned as he remembered that day. While actually taking down father Cornello had been fun, the combined irony of both Ed claiming that science disproved the supernatural when he was standing right next to him and being attacked in a place that reminded him an awful lot of the monastery made the whole ordeal extremely awkward to say the least.   
“At least the people there were nice,” Al said.  
“Relatively speaking,” Ed said, “Still don’t appreciate being shot at by priests.”  
“Better than being in a town with the world’s worst police force,” Rin said.   
“speaking of which,” Ed said, writing down ‘Marcoh?’ next to the name of the town, “Aquroya was only slightly better. We got maybe half a lead out of that and not much else.”   
“Better? I’d say worse…” Rin muttered, “We wasted so much time there helping a thief because you two kept falling for her sob stories.”  
“You fell for them too!” Ed argued.  
“She wasn’t a bad person!” Al said.  
“Hey, I only fell for her games twice,” Rin snapped, “And that was only because I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt. And yes she was Al! She clearly wasn’t donating any of that money, and I don’t think that town needed any more tourism, considering it is one of the few ocean ports we have.”  
“But she was so kind!” Al argued, “You should have seen how she treated those hospital patients.”  
“Someone can be nice and still do bad things they really shouldn't get away with doing, Al,” Rin argued. The boy in the suit huffed.  
“He’s right, Al,” Ed added, “The law is still the law no matter who you are.”  
“I still can’t believe they treated her like some hero though,” Rin muttered, “Really, what was with those people? They thought state alchemists might be in cahoots with a thief and then they praised that thief for stealing from them.”  
“Yeah,” Ed said, “Though I find it even harder to believe that the people in the next town really thought Al and I weren’t the real Elric brothers. I had my licence…”  
“And me to verify your legitimacy,” Rin added raising his hand.  
“But that place wasn’t so bad,” Al interjected, “I mean, Russel and Fletcher were actually really nice. And that Belsio guy was really helpful too.”  
“Though I don’t know why he kept giving us lemons,” Rin muttered, “I know he’s a citrus farmer, but…people don’t usually eat lemons alone.”  
“I guess you could yous them for pie,” Al said with a shrug.  
“Huh...they might be good for lemon meringue…” Rin said thoughtfully before an idea popped into his head.“Hey, maybe I can make some when we get back to East City.”  
“That’s a great idea!” Al said, “I can call up Winry to see if she has a recipe if you can’t find one,”  
“ANYWAYS,” Ed cut in grabbing their attention again. “We also finally got a good lead on this Marcoh guy,” Ed pointed out, scratching out some notes on the map and circling small villages around Xenotime, “We can start heading out to check around these areas…” Ed sighed. “Right after we finish our report…” he grumbled, slumping again. Ed was not looking forward to facing Mustang after turning up another dead lead. Rin wasn’t exactly looking forward to it either, more for the lecture he was sure to get than anything else. They had been less than careful in their missions and probably caused a lot more damage than necessary.  
“Hey, at least we’ve got one thing to look forward to,” Rin said, perking up, “Yukio should be back in town now!” The other boys had perked up as well. It had been three years since they had seen Rin’s twin.  
“Really?” Al asked, “He’s finally done studying in Xing.”   
“Yeah, he’s an alkahestry know-it-all, now,” Rin said, “He said he’d be coming home the day after we left for Liore.”  
“Well it’ll be great to see him again,” Ed said, “I’m sure he’s missed you.”  
….  
Roy walked home from a long day at Eastern Command. Although the boys hadn’t arrived yet, he had already heard a great deal of their exploits in Liore and Aquroya. The newspapers were near constantly printing stories about them, as they had developed a bit of a following for their names as heroes of the people. The good thing was that they were giving the military a better name. The bad thing was this meant usually, news of whatever collateral damage they caused got out before they had time to stop it.  
Roy opened the door to his home in East City to find his teenage son sitting there reading. “Hey dad,” Yukio said, looking up from his book, “How was your day?”  
“Alright,” he said. “I didn’t expect you to be home yet,” he noted.  
Yukio shrugged. “They sent me home early after assisting with Dr. Webber with his last patient,” he explained. Yukio had landed a position working in the military hospital of Eastern Command. Although his Alkahestry skills put him on par with any doctor, he was still only considered a nurse as he did not have a traditional medical degree. Roy remembered when he had first brought up the idea of becoming a military doctor. Yukio had been worried about Rin, even while he had been keeping his brother’s secret of preparing for the alchemy exam. He became even more so when he later learned from him that he was going to help Edward and Alphonse search for the philosopher’s stone, a quest many have died trying to complete. When he returned, he didn’t want to fall out of the loop with his brother or just become a silent observer in his life, but he still wanted to be a doctor, so he thought this would be the best way to combine those goals.   
It had not been an easy discussion, and in the end it took a whole year of convincing for Roy to agree. Only once he was finally assured that Yukio would never have to kill someone out of anything more than self defense he had agreed. He had actually returned to Amestris the week before Rin had left for Liore, but had spent that time in Central finishing up the process. Once he finally arrived in East City, he took up office as a nurse in the infirmary.  
“Where’s Rin? Wasn’t he supposed to be back today?” he asked.  
Roy shook his head. “No, he’ll be arriving tomorrow morning,” he explained.  
“Good,” the younger twin said, looking back at his book. While he was excited to see his brother again, he was also a bit apprehensive.  
“You know he isn’t going to take this well,” Roy said, feeling similarly.   
Yukio sighed. “I realise that,” he responded, closing his book, “I just hope he accepts our explanation.”  
“If it makes you feel any better, most of his anger will most likely be directed at me for letting you,” Roy said.  
“A little bit,” he responded, “But I’d rather not have him upset at all. It’s for his own good anyways.”  
Roy smirked. “You know him,” he said, “he’s never been ok with anything that was ‘for his own good.’”  
Yukio smirked at that before heading upstairs. He set his book on his desk and his smile faded as he dug through his pocket, pulling out a silver pocket watch. To be honest, he didn’t think Rin would be so upset if he had become a medical personnel of the military under normal circumstances, but his lack of a normal medical degree hadn’t made that an option for him.  
….  
Yukio walked down the hall of Eastern command to the Colonel’s office. He had forgotten to remind his father to send Edward and Rin down to the infirmary later for Dr. Webber to perform their yearly military physical. Due to their traveling, they both missed the date they were supposed to take it, which was last Tuesday.  
As he passed by Lieutenant Hawkeye’s office he heard a large commotion.  
He peered inside to see his father’s team arguing about something. Fuery looked really upset about something. Yukio raised an eyebrow. “Guys? Is something wrong?” he asked.  
“It’s nothing,” Riza said, turning towards him, “Fuery just found a stray dog and is trying to find someone to take care of it.”  
“I don’t suppose you could take him in,” Fuery said.  
Yukio smiled at the black pup in his hands but shook his head apologetically. “Sorry but I don’t think we can take him in,” Yukio said, “We already have Kuro...and I don’t think they’d get along very well.” He could not see bringing the puppy home ending very well. He doubted that Kuro would intentionally harm the little black dog, but he didn’t put it passed the cat to either scare him away or play a little to rough with him. Kuro might like the company of another animal, but due to his supernatural strength (which he has demonstrated many times in his attempts to wake up Rin in the morning) having something as frail as a puppy around would not make a good companion for him.  
Or the inverse could happen. Kuro could be completely appalled with even the thought of sharing space with a dog. In which case, Yukio could see him chasing the poor pup away. “Kuro is very territorial, I doubt he’d want another animal around,” he said.  
Fuery pouted. “Are you sure?” he asked, “I doubt he’d pester the cat too much.”  
“I think it’s best for the dog that he not stay with us,” Yukio insisted, “You can ask my Dad but I think he’ll say the same thing.” Fuery sighed and nodded. “Oh by the way, is Dad in his office right now?”  
Riza nodded and Yukio thanked her before heading out.  
….  
Meanwhile, Rin was dealing with a similar situation. “You can’t keep it, Al,” Edward said, “We have no means to care for it!” Alphonse had snuck in a tiny tabby kitten.   
“I don’t think cats are allowed in the dorms anyways,” Rin said scratch his head. He felt bad for the poor stray, but he didn’t know what to do.  
“But we have to do something!” Al protested, “Rin, can’t you take her in? You already have one cat, taking care of another wouldn’t be too much trouble for you, right?”  
Rin winced as Alphonse get red to him pleadingly. He had no idea how someone with an unmoving helmet for a face could look so sad. And it didn’t help that he wanted to take in the kitten. It was adorable after all…  
But he didn’t want to upset Kuro. The cat was really intelligent and emotional. He already knew the cat sidhe got upset when he left for weeks at a time. He could only imagine how betrayed the demon cat would feel if he brought home another cat. Rin could only imagine how hurt and mad he’d be if he thought he was being replaced. “Sorry, Al,” he said, “but Kuro probably wouldn’t want to share the house. Plus you saw how he reacts to strangers.”  
“I’m sorry, but you’re just going to have to put it back where you found it,” Ed said sadly.  
“No!” Al cried before getting up and running off, “I won’t leave her out there! You two are just cruel!” the cat screeched as it clinged to his armor.  
“Damn it...Al, stop!” Rin called.   
“Think of the kitten, Al!” Ed shouted, chasing after his brother.  
“I am! I’m the only one apparently!” Al cried as he ran.   
As Yukio walked towards his father’s office, he swore he could hear the clanking of metal. Yukio turned in confusion…only to have a suit of armor ram straight into him.  
Yukio flew through the air and landed on the wax floor. Something else landed on his chest. He sat up woozily only to find a tabby cat clinging to his chest. He blinked in confusion before a voice piped up.  
“Oh! I’m so sorry, I--” Alphonse started before stopping in realization, “Wait a minute…Yukio?”  
The teen’s mouth opened to try to respond before his brother and Edward came running up behind him. “Thank goodness you finally stopped, I-” Ed said before spotting Yukio on the floor, “...Why does this guy look really familiar?”  
“Yukio?!” Rin cried, horribly shocked and confused, “What the--How the--Why are you wearing a military uniform?!”  
“Look, Rin, I can explain,” he said, trying to pull the kitten off of his chest. The cat’s claws dug in further and tore a hole in his front pocket, through which a bit of silver could be seen. Uh oh...  
Rin’s eyes widened. The Elric brothers looked equally surprised. “What the hell…” Rin growled before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the silver watch hidden inside. His hand shook as he glared at it. “You’re a state alchemist now?! How? When???” he demanded, “When were you planning on telling me about this?!”  
“Rin…” Yukio started, getting up, “We weren’t trying to keep this secret from you. I only became one a few weeks ago. Dad and I were going to tell you as soon as you got back-”  
“Wait. So Dad LET you become a state alchemist?!” Rin snapped, becoming enraged, “He just let you do it without a fight while he spent months with me arguing about it after I had already gone and done it?! What the hell!” He couldn’t even begin to describe how slighted he felt. He had to fight to become a state alchemist and deal with a huge rift of hurt feelings from both sides afterwards. Over time they had finally managed to fully patch things up, but then his dad just lets his brother become one without a fight? How the heck is that fair?! What did Yukio do that he didn’t?  
“He didn’t just let me,” Yukio started, “We argued over it for a while. I just-”  
“Yeah right,” Rin snapped, “Just like you weren’t trying to hide this from me! Well I call bullshit, four-eyes! You know why? The state alchemy exam requires you apply months in advance!” With that, he stormed off.  
“Rin?” He called in exasperation, “Rin get back here!”  
“No,” Rin growled, “I’m going to give Dad a piece of my mind!”  
“Rin just stop!” he snapped, “I’m sorry, ok! Let me explain.” However, it fell on deaf ears. Yukio sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Damn it…” he hissed, “Well this isn’t going to be fun.” The Elric brothers stood to the side awkwardly, unsure of what to do.  
“So….” Ed said, “You’re a state alchemist now…congrats.”  
“Thanks,” Yukio stated. More silence.  
“Um...so what’s your state alchemist name?” he asked.  
“Lifeblood,” Yukio said, “Because I got my certification with my study in medical alkahestry. My main abilities are for healing serious wounds, creating herbs and medicines, and fixing broken bones.”  
“Oh...Neat,” Alphonse said.  
“Uh, hey…” Ed said, “I know you’re brother brushed you off on the explanation, but I’d still like to hear it. Besides, I think he’s going to be a while.” Yukio glanced at him before nodding.  
…  
Envy watched with delight from the mouse hole as the boy stomped down the hall. He had originally be sent to spy on the boys to find out any intel on the extent of the kid’s powers, but he hadn’t expected to get such a great show too! This was absolutely priceless: Big brother jealous of his little brother getting special treatment! Classic! And with how bad of a temper that Rin boy had, this was sure to get juicy. Envy scurried after him into the Colonel’s office, hiding in the farthest corner he could find.   
Rin burst through the door, looking furious. Roy raised an eyebrow. He had a pretty good idea why he was so upset, but he decided to ask anyways. “Hello, Rin,” he said, “What seems to be the problem?”  
“What’s my problem? What’s you’re problem!” he snapped.  
“You were all up in arms about me becoming a state alchemist, and yet you let Yukio join the first time he asks!” he snapped, “What the hell! How is that fair?”  
“Well, for starters, Yukio didn’t get my approval the first time he asked,” Roy explained, “It took a while to convince me actually. But he was patient and persistent.”  
“Still better than not letting there be any room for discussion like me!” Rin retorted.  
Roy sighed. “You were eleven Rin, when you first asked,” he stated, “Eleven year olds shouldn’t be joining the military.”  
“That didn’t stop Ed and Al!” Rin retorted.  
Roy growled realising he had walked into that one. “You know why that is not a valid response. They didn’t have much of another option,” he responded, “And I said shouldn’t! Not couldn’t.”   
“But he’s still in just as much danger as me! And we’re still the same age!” Rin snapped, “Admit it! It has nothing to do with my age or anything like that. It has to do with me!” Envy practically started leaning in at this point. This was getting good. He wished he had brought some popcorn.  
“Rin, what are you implying?” Roy said, narrowing his eyes.   
“You don’t trust me to be able to handle it,” he stated, “But you trust Yukio to be able to.”  
“Rin that’s ridiculous,” Roy retorted, “I trust you as much as I do Yukio. You have done very well thus far. I allowed Yukio to become a state alchemist for two reasons. One was because he is only using his medical alchemic abilities and alkahestry in his position. Secondly was because he wanted the position to help look out for you-”  
“So you admit you think I can’t take care of myself!” Rin said.  
“I never said that-”  
“You just did! You said you wanted him to help look out for me,” Rin responded, “I don’t get why you think that I can’t handle myself. I’ve been a state alchemist for three years. I have Edward and Alphonse to watch my back. I have Kuro. Heck, I even have you and your team. What more could you ask for? It’s not like anyone’s after me right now, and there isn’t anyone who knows about kurikara or my heritage here, let alone is trying to hurt me for it.” Envy narrowed his eyes as he listened. Kurikara? The hell was a kurikara?  
“Rin,” Roy said, trying to hide his frustration as he tried to explain it to him clearly, “I know all that. It’s not that-”  
He was cut off by the door swinging open and the Brigadier General Basque Grand entering the room with at least a dozen troops. “What brings me this pleasant surprise, Brigadier General?” Roy said dully, narrowing his eyes.  
The general returned it with a glare. “As of today, we'll be taking over this East HQ as our temporary Central Command,” he stated.  
“May I ask what's wrong with the one in Central, sir?” Roy questioned, trying to hid his suspicion.  
suddenly a chill ran up Rin’s spine, as Bradley pushed to the front of the group. Roy stood up, saluting. Rin hesitantly did the same. “I know, Mustang, I asked the same thing,” he sighed, smiling in a “what can you do?” manner, “Sorry for the hassle. Everybody at ease, now.”  
Roy nodded. “Welcome, sir,” he said, before sitting down.  
“Your job is not to ask questions, Colonel,” Basque Grand sneered, “The Fuhrer and his staff will run this place, both to operate as central command, and to observe the region. I trust you'll make us comfortable.”  
“Yes, sir,” Roy said.  
“Good,” Grand continued, “Then I’m sure you’ll have no trouble escorting my men to the dorms.” Roy bit back a sigh as he got up and obeyed. The men filed out of the room, Bradley being the first to leave behind Roy. Rin was annoyed that their conversation was cut short, at the same time he was relieved. The weird, eerie feeling he got when around the fuhrer dissipated...well only slightly. Rin glanced around the room. It felt off somehow. He scanned the entire room, looking for the possible source, but found nothing. Then, with a scratching noise, it was gone. Rin blinked for a moment. What was that? Rin shrugged and walked out of the room, heading off to find Edward and Alphonse.  
...  
Envy scurried along through mouse holes until he came to a bathroom and transformed into his usual human disguise before stepping out. He was glad Wrath was here so he could relay what he’d discovered so far. Envy was genuinely curious about the whole kurikara thing was. It had to be important if he put it at the same weight as information about his heritage. Maybe Astaroth would know...


	3. Fight fire with fire

"Doctor Marcoh? Nope. Doctor Marcoh? Not here," Ed grumbled. He had been searching the library for hours. After lunch and hearing from Basque Grand that Marcoh had been a deserter they had gone looking in the library for answers. Unfortunately they hadn't found any. "Damn it! Wouldn't you know it, he's been erased from all the record books!" he hissed, "Clearly Mustang knows, but he's not talking. I'll have to beat it out of him."

"Wouldn't be the first thing he's hidden…" Rin said, grumbling in the corner.

Al and Ed looked over to him. "You know, he wasn't the only one worried," Al said, "It was mostly Yukio, or at least that's what he said. Besides, there's nothing wrong with them worrying. It just means they care. There's no reason to be mad."

"I'm not mad!" Rin protested, "Not about that anyways. I'm mad that they lied, sure, but not that they're worried. I'm just...frustrated. After all I've done they're still worried. They know I can handle myself. What can I do to prove it?"

All of a sudden Hughes burst into the room. He had come with the whole entourage of alchemists from Central. "Hey boys! How are you guys doing?" Ed rolled his eyes. While he liked the now lieutenant colonel, the last thing he needed was more daughter stories.

"Hey uncle!" Rin said perking up a little, "Comeback to show us the rest of those pictures?"

"Well…"

"Don't start!" Ed said, giving Rin an annoyed look, "We saw plenty earlier."

"Aw come on?" Rin said, "What's wrong with the pictures? Elicia's adorable!"

"I know right!" Hughes cried, "She's like a little escort of cuteness on her tricycle!"

Edward rolled his eyes. Although he didn't get to see her very often, Rin had grown almost as attached to his little cousin as Hughes himself."Because we are looking up info on Marcoh," Ed said, "This is kind of important work." Rin huffed.

"Sorry then," Hughes replied, "I won't bother you for long. I just came to inform you that due to certain circumstances, your reassessments will be taking place here at East City instead of central." Rin looked up curiously as Hughes walked over to him with a piece of paper. Rin took it."I have a list of options for you," he explained. You can choose anyone of them, but I will admit, some of them are a bit-"

"That's it!" Rin cried holding the piece of paper a loft, "I'll challenge dad to an Alchemy dual!"

Everyone else in the room looked shocked. "What?!" Edward snapped, "You can't do that!"

"Why would you want to do that anyways?!" Al added.

"Rin think about this, you could get hurt!" Hughes argued.

"What's wrong with that idea?" he asked, "I'd be no different than sparring like you guys do. Besides, this would be the perfect oppirtunity to both prove to him I'm fine on my own."

"Yeah?" Ed said crossing his arms, "Well what if I wanted to fight him too? Do you really think they'd let both of us fight him?" There was a pause as the two friends considered their options.

"...Last one to Dad's office stands down!" With that, Rin ran off down the hall.

"Hey! No fair!" Ed called after him, charging after him. Hughes and Al sighed as they watched them. This could not end well. Al followed them down the hall to see Rin whooping in delight and Edward scowling, with his arms crossed, muttering about Rin cheating with his longer legs.

...

Roy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Sir I do apologize, but how can you approve of this?" He demanded. When he first heard that Rin wanted to fight him for his assessment, he passed it off as a joke. It would never happen. No one was going to approve of it….Except for apparently, the Fuhrer himself.

"I see nothing wrong with it," he said simply, "If two alchemist wish to show off their abilities in a friendly spar, then I see nothing wrong with that."

"But I don't wish for that!" Roy explained, "I don't want to fight my son. Surely you understand that, sir."

"I understand," he stated, "But I also hope you understand the unfavorable implications you make of yourself if you turn this down." Roy gave a confused look. "If you turn this down, you show favoritism among your subordinates. That you can't keep your emotions from swaying your actions," Fuhrer Bradley explained looking him in the eye, "I didn't transfer your son under you out of sympathy for your situation. I did it because I believed you were capable of treating him as you did anyone of your other subordinates. As much as I understand how you feel for your son, I do not want his abilities squandered because you feel uncomfortable with it, If you prove me wrong, I may have to reconsider your situation."

Roy frowned at the thinly veiled threat. "Very well, Sir," he said.

…

"Have you lost your mind?" Yukio demanded. When Yukio heard about about what his brother was planning, he was furious. "Are you really that angry that you want to fight Dad?"

Rin rolled his eyes. "I'm not angry at Dad," he said, "I'm trying to prove a point. I don't need you or him babying me."

"You're treating this like it's some game," he said, "Rin you could get hurt!"

"Oh relax!" Rin said, "It's not like either of us want to torch each other alive. Besides you have alkahestry." "It's just an assessment. It's no different than Al and Ed sparring," he said.

"You're sparring with fire! Rin this is ridiculous!" Yukio protested, "Can't you just fight Edward instead? Why Dad?"

"Because fighting Edward isn't going to convince you or dad of anything," he said, "Ed's way better than anyone I know, but you see him as a kid like us, don't you?"

Yukio's mouth opened and closed before he frowned. "I still think this is a stupid idea," he said.

"It's a perfectly good idea, and I'm sticking with it, thank you very much!" Rin snapped, "Besides, I've got a bet with dad. If I win, he has to tell me everything he knows about Dr. Marcoh."

Yukio blinked. "Why would you make a bet like that?" he questioned.

"Well it was Ed's idea," Rin said, "After I beat him in a foot race, he wasn't very happy about it and made me promise to make that bet." Rin scratched the back of his head. "We think he might be a lead on the philosopher's stone. He might have one or know how to make one," he said, "and he used to be part of the military during the Ishvalian war, so Dad might have more info than he's letting on about him."

Yukio's eyes widened as he mentioned Ishval. If this Dr. Marcoh was involved with...that...this couldn't be a good thing. "Maybe you shouldn't do that," Yukio warned, looking concerned.

Rin blinked. "Why not?" he asked.

Yukio bit his lip. He wanted to explain that if that man really was involved with that terrible war, especially if he was involved in the production of philosopher stones used for it, then he he may not be trustworthy. He didn't know whether Rin had been told what had really happened there. Roy had only let it slip after he pestered him enough about joining the state alchemist program. Even with Yukio he had been vague, only saying that towards the end he and other state alchemists had been ordered to slaughter the Ishvalians with the use of incomplete stones, and yet the thought had horrified him. Knowing his father had been involved in genocide, even unwillingly, had shook him to his core. He could only imagine how Rin would respond.

And if that man willingly helped the military create those stones...well, he didn't think Rin should be involved with that kind of person. "Well you don't even know if Dad really knows him," he offered, "And besides, if he left the military right after a war, you don't know what mental condition he's in. He could be dangerous."

Rin simply raised an eyebrow at him. "If it means helping Ed and Al, I think I'll take my chance," he said, "We have to at least try. We don't have any other leads right now." Yukio sighed as he walked off.

….

"Are you sure you're ok with this, Sir?" Havock asked as they walked down the halls, "I would have sworn you would have protested more."

Roy frowned as they walked towards the parade grounds. "I've tried that already," he said, "Turns out I'm not in a position to argue."

"You're kidding me…" He responded, "I think you have a perfectly good reason to say no, being the kid's dad."

"And if I play that card, I'll have worse issues to worry about," he countered.

Havock frowned. "Ok, but can't you atleast try to talk some sense into Rin?" he asked. Roy turned to him with a raised eyebrow as if the answer didn't need to be stated.

"Havock, this is Rin we're talking about," Hawkeye responded, "Do you really think anything Roy would have said would have stopped him?"

"Ok, fair point," he said, "But still, there's nothing that can be done."

"If there was, then it's too late," Roy said with a sigh as they approached the door he could hear the crowd outside. "To be honest, I suppose it would be good practice for him," he said, "I don't know how much he gets to spar using his alchemy."

"Well good luck then," Havock said as he walked out to join the crowd.

"I believe your worries might be a bit displaced, Sir," Riza said as he opened the doors himself, "You were the one who trained him after all." Roy smirked at that. She did have a point. This was still just a controlled fight. No truly high stakes except for that bet and his own pride. Just enough to make it worth it.

….

Edward continued to grumble from the sidelines. "I still wish I was the one out there…" He muttered, "What I wouldn't do to give that man a fist in the face…" Yukio just sighed as he stood beside the brothers.

The two combatants stood across from each other. Boos and jeers sounded from both sides.

"I can't wait to show you what I've got in store," Rin said while grinning, "I've come a long way since our last training session. Who knows, maybe the student has surpassed the master."

Roy smirked. "Don't get so cocky. You're still very green compared to me," he retorted, "I doubt you've ever been in a real fight with an alchemist. You still have a lot to learn."

"Alchemists, get set," Hughes announced, "Ready, and fight!" He then ran away as fast as he could.

Rin blinked in confusion for a moment before he heard the snap of fingers and was sent flying back. Aside from any scraps he may have gotten from the tumble he took, he was unscathed. "Hey! that was a cheap shot!" Rin snapped.

"Consider this an extra training session," Roy said, "Lesson one: there are no cheap shots. Strike quickly and you'll end it quickly, too."

"Fine then," Rin growled. He snapped his fingers and a wave of flames rolled across the ground. While the audience gasped, the flame alchemist wasn't the least bit surprised by this, and simply leapt over it as it rolled past.

"Good, but too low," he responded, "You made it too easy to dodge. Observe." He produced the same motion, and a wave of flames came hurdling towards Rin, moving much faster than his own had. Rin ducked down, practically falling to the ground. As he struggled to keep his balance Roy snapped again. A burst of flame exploded next to Rin and he yelped as he toppled over. Roy snapped again and again, causing Rin to roll out of the way. With each roll, he became more and more annoyed.

"Will you...just let me…" Rin snapped in between rolls, "GET UP?!"

Roy chuckled. "Do you think a real opponent will give you a chance to get back on your feet?" He questioned him, "lesson two: Never give your opponent the opportunity to fight back."

"Fine then," Rin huffed, snapping his fingers as he rolled. He wasn't able to aim, but the explosion was just far enough away to surprise the colonel, giving him the opportunity to get back up. Roy was still chasing him with pillars of fire.

"Looks like your speed has increased," Roy said teasingly as he continued.

"Wow…" Al muttered, "The colonel really isn't giving up!"

"Yeah," Ed said as one flame got a little closer to Rin than the rest as he passed them by, "It's a wonder he hasn't gotten torched yet."

"That's because Dad's not trying to," Yukio said realization dawning on him, "And neither is Rin. Fire alchemy isn't like shooting a gun. You condense the air around an object to cause it to combust. Dad could set Rin on fire at any moment so long as he was focusing on him. If either of them really wanted to, this whole thing could have been over in seconds by who can draw first. They aren't really fighting...they're showing off!"

Roy snapped his fingers again, this time causing an explosion under Rin's feet, propelling him in the air. Some people laughed when he hit the ground, some cringed. He tumbled when he landed, but rolled into a crouch. Rin growled at this. He snapped his fingers before smirking evilly.

For a moment it seemed as if nothing had happened. Then, Roy felt his backside grow hot. He turned to find his waist cape had been set alight. The teenager and much of the crowd laughed as he frantically tore it off and stomped it out. His eye twitched in irritation as he saw his son rolling on the floor in laughter. "Dumb move," he said, "You should have performed a second attack while I was distracted, like this." He snapped his fingers with both hands. Rin stopped laughing as he noticed two walls of fire come rushing towards him. He yelped and scrambled out of the way as they came crashing together. He panted, trying to get over the smirked. "Had enough yet?" he questioned.

Rin looked up at him, scowling for a moment before grinning evilly. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" he sneered. He then snapped his fingers. A circle of fire drew itself around Mustang before turning into a vortex, swirling up into the sky.

Roy was surprised by this. His brow furrowed as he couldn't look outside the towering pillar of fire, just as Rin had planned. Unfortunately, Rin had not planned for the air inside the vortex to become superheated. Roy coughed as it hurt to breath in the scorching air. He began to panic. His lungs almost felt like they were baking. This wasn't the first time he had felt like this though. The last time was…Ishval.

The flames roared around him as he was momentarily brought back there. The cheers of the crowd turned into screams of pain and fear. He had to get out of here. The flames began to part and Roy turned to see a figure mere inches from him. An enemy soldier was trying to jump him. He acted on instinct and snapped his fingers, but realized too late the figure was not an enemy soldier, but Rin.

The world seemed to move in slow motion. Both their eyes widened as the red flames made contact with the boy and began to push him back. Everyone watched in awe as he was flung through the air and rolled across the ground, his body facing away from Roy. Mustang felt his heart stop as he saw the smoke rising from him. "Rin!" he cried.

Edward, Al, and Yukio were in a similar state of panic, gripping the railing, but Roy was worse. Was he ok? Had he actually hurt him? He had no idea how powerful that blast was. For all he knew he could have scorched the boy's face off!

Roy felt his heart sink as a long, pained groan emanated from the boy. Roy's heart sank and his panic grew even worse. He rushed over to the boy to check on him. Guilt and worry seeped through him as he did so. "Rin are you alright?" he demaned as he got closer, "Rin?"

Once he was a few feet away, the boy turned over with an evil smirk. The front of his uniform was scorched but there was only a small burn on his cheek. He snapped his fingers quickly and Roy felt a warm sensation on the back of each hand for a brief moment. He looked down to see that the transmutation circle on each glow had been burnt off.

Roy's jaw dropped, dumbfounded, "I believe that means I win," Rin said getting up. the crowd cheered as he did so.

Roy looked at the boy incredulously beofre narrowing his eyes at him. "That was a cheap trick," he said.

"I thought you said there were no cheap tricks," Rin retorted.

Roy grinned before chuckling. Rin joined in before Roy roughly grabbed him by the shoulder. "Don't you dare scare me like that again!" he said in a low voice, eyes dead serious. Rin nodded swiftly as they began to head off the grounds while Hughes announced the winner. Roy smiled as they did, reflecting on the events of the day. He knew eventually Rin would be able to surpass him, though he didn't think it would be so soon. Granted, he only won because he used a cheap trick towards the end.

"So," Rin said, "Now you have to tell us about Dr. Marcoh."

Roy sighed, He was not looking forward to that conversation, he didn't want to put the man in trouble if the military found out where he was. "Later," he said, "First you're going to get your brother to fix you up."

Rin pouted. "Oh, come on!" he said, "It's not that bad…"

"Rin, I of all people know burns, and I know for a fact that one will blister," Roy responded, "I don't think the ladies will find a giant, puss filled blister on your face very attractive,"

Rin winced, "Alright…" he said, "I'll have Yukio look at me. But then you have to tell us about Marcoh."

"Alright…"

….

"Kurikara?!" Astaroth roared, "No! That can't be! How does that fool have that?!" He growled and punched one of the pipes, leaving a sizable dent. "Damn it! Damn that human! Damn that boy!" he snarled, "Damn it all!" He slammed his fists into the pipe a few more times until the steam began to leak out.

Father narrowed his eyes at this display. Gluttony tried to hide behind Lust, while the other homunculi shared slightly confused and worried glances. Astaroth rounded on Envy. "Are you sure that's what they said?" he demanded, "If you speak falsely, then I will hang you by your entrails!"

"Hey! Back off!" the homuncli snapped, pushing him back, "Jeez! If I knew you were going to rip my throat out for speaking, I wouldn't have said anything…" "I am being honest. That was the exact word that I heard the brat say. Why? What's a kurikara?"he asked.

"Yes…" Father spoke up, "If this 'Kurikara' has you so worried, I would like to know what it is too."

Astaroth glared at the ground. "Kurikara is a demon slaying sword," he growled, "But not just any sword. It is one of the most powerful in existence. It has slain thousands of my brethren without growing dull. It even has the power to kill demon kings like me!"

"So a simple sword can kill you?" Envy questioned.

"It is no simple sword!" he snapped, "You cannot simply kill a demon king! A regular sword my destroy the body I posses, but I can alway take on another. And to demons in their true forms, a regular sword will do nothing! This sword will rip apart a demon's very soul!" "It shouldn't even be here! It should be under lock and key in Assiah!" he snarled, "How does that man have it?! He's no exorcist! Does he even understand it's power?!"

"So I assume this means is if Mustang is able to wield it," Father said, "it will do more than just throw a wrench into our plans."

"Exactly," Astaroth said in a low voice, "We must find it and destroy it at once."


	4. Revelations part 1

400 years ago...  
Truth scowled. Rage building up inside him. His world--HIS world!--with all its beautiful scientific harmony he had strived to create had been thrown completely off balance by foreign supernatural forces. His perfect laws of physics and chemistry that kept his universe running in such a wonderfully uniform fashion were being bent, distorted, and ignored by the demons that now plagued it. It was madness! Plants grew from nothing. Bodies were being reanimated. Matter and energy were being destroyed. Fires started without sparks and burned cold. It made him want to scream how they mocked his laws.  
The worst part was that he had no way of stopping it. All it had taken was one man seeking immortality. Using thousands of human souls to do it, he ripped the fabric of the universe wide open, allowing demons of all shapes and sizes to flood in. From the smallest Koaltar to some of the most powerful, they were everywhere, coming and going as they pleased and he had no way of fixing it.  
Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening. “My, my, you seem to be in a pinch,” a voice rang out. Truth turned to see Mephisto standing there. The white deity growled. How dare he come to mock him at a time like this. Small black hands reached out from behind him. “How dare you come here Samael!” he growled, “You know you aren’t allowed here. You have five seconds to leave before I take your limbs and throw you out!”  
There was a tinge of fear in the demon's eyes as he raise his arms defensively, but he still teased the divine figure. “Oh I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just heard from Gehenna that the gates are wide open into this world so I assumed you were inviting us in now!” Truth did not appreciate his joke, and the black hands gripped onto the demon’s limbs. “I wouldn’t do that!” he tried to chime, although his voice cracked slightly, “Otherwise I won’t be able to help you.”  
Truth frowned and loosened his grip. “What do you mean by help?” he said.  
“As you know, I am the demon king of time and space,” he said, “I can bend the fabric of reality to my will. And while It is not my best skill, I can also do a good patch job of it too.”  
Truth paused in thought. “What is it that you want?” he asked, “I of all people should know your kind never works for free, so make your claim, but if you ask for something more than what you’re giving me in return, you’re going to regret it.”  
Mephisto smiled. “I want to be able to access this universe whenever I feel like it,” he said, “I’ve been looking for a new vacation home for a while. Someplace I can take a few friends and really wow them. This universe with alchemy seems like a nice place to do the trick. In return I will help you fix your universe now, and again if it ever happens.”  
Truth smiled and laughed, letting him go. “I believe that will work,” he said, “but only two guests can be brought over with you at any given time, otherwise you’ll start losing body parts, demon, starting with that tail of yours.”  
Mephisto inwardly shuddered at how painful and humiliating that would be. “Good to see you agree,” he said, extending out a hand. The pure white deity took it in his own.  
….  
Present day...  
“Damn it!” Envy cried, kicking over a chair at Mustang’s house in Central, “Where the hell is it?!” He felt like flipping over the man’s desk. Lust walked up the stairs and into the room, a disappointed look on her face. Gluttony was behind her, pouting, “Well? Did you find it?” Envy demanded.  
“No,” she said, “It wasn’t in the basement or the kitchen.”  
Envy looked over curiously to Gluttony who looked upset. “Whats wrong with him?” Envy asked, “Wouldn’t he be glad he got to check the kitchen?”  
“He was…” she said, “Until he found and drank a whole bottle of something marked ‘Kuro’ on the same shelf as the wine.”  
“It didn’t taste good…” Gluttony whimpered, “not at all…”  
Envy blinked in surprise. Gluttony didn’t like eating something? What was the world coming to?! “Are you sure it wasn’t rat poison?” he asked, “Oh who am I kidding…Gluttony would still like rat poison.”  
“No, the rat poison was under the sink,” she said, “Besides, it smelled like alcohol.”  
“Jeez…,” Envy said, a little disturbed, “What kind of tastes does this Mustang have if he keeps something that even Gluttony doesn’t like?”  
“No idea, but there’s no point in staying here,” she said, “It’s clearly not here. He must have taken it to East City with him.”  
Envy groaned. “But that means that cat thing is still guarding it!” he hissed, “Damn it! Why does that thing have to get in the way!”  
“Oh stop complaining…” she snapped at him.  
“No, you don’t understand!” he retorted, “There’s something wrong with that thing! No matter what disguise I take, it can tell who I am! Do you have any idea how many times that thing has killed me? I’m getting into double digits here!” The truth was he was long past double digits, but he didn’t need to admit that.  
“You probably have just been going about it the wrong way,” she said.  
“What? Have you got a plan to get past that thing?” Envy said.  
She smirked at him. “I already have three,” she said, “Now come on. We’re wasting daylight.”  
….  
Alphonse, Edward, and Rin wandered around the small village on the outskirts of East City, looking for the apartment where they had been directed. Roy had sent them off in the general direction of where the man was, but they still needed to ask around to be sure. “Jeez!” Rin complained, “For such a small place, it sure is hard to find him.”  
“Actually, I don’t think it's too much farther,” Al said, looking at the street signs, “Look! Up there!” He said, pointing to the small sign of a medical clinic.on a second story apartment.  
“Hey, Dr. Marcoh, you in?” Rin called knocking on the door, “Come on man, we want to talk to you.” Suddenly the door opened and two gun shots fired. Rin was sent reeling back as he dodged them. ”JESUS CHRIST! What the crap, man?!” Rin cried, “You could have killed me!”  
“It’s Ok!” Al said, “We just want to-”  
“I know what you want!” The man said, panic clear in his voice, “You’re State Alchemists. You think you can take me back there!”  
“No it’s not that,” Ed protested.  
“You are Doctor Marcoh, the Crystal Alchemist, right?” Al said, “We’re not going to take you back.”  
So you’ve come to silence me?” he said, cocking the gun, “Think you can kill me? Well I don't have to just let that happen!”  
All three boys held their hands up. “No!” Ed cried, “We’d never kill someone!”  
“Yeah, just calm down!” Rin said, “Look, we aren’t here to kill you. My name is Rin Mustang, the Spitfire Alchemist. You were friends with my dad, right?”  
Marcoh’s eyes widened. “So it really is true,” he said, “When I heard a Rin Mustang was a state alchemist, I didn’t think it was his child that had joined the military. I thought he might have had a cousin or nephew…” then he raised the gun again. “Wait that doesn’t make any sense!” he snapped, “Roy Mustang had no children during the war!”  
“Yeah, my brother and I were adopted after the fact,” Rin said, pulling out his wallet to show him proof. “Here, see?” He said giving him his ID.  
Marcoh frowned but accepted it. “Very well...but what about them?” he asked, gesturing to Ed and Al.  
“I’m Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist,” he explained.  
“And I’m his little brother Alphonse,” Al added.  
“We swear, the military didn’t send us,” Ed said, “We just want to talk.” Marcoh hesitated but nodded and let them in.  
….  
“I can’t believe Mustang of all people let his son become a state alchemist,” the man said as he brought tea to the table, “He of all people I thought would be against it.”  
Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah…” he said laughing nervously, “Let is a strong word...so is relented…”  
“You snuck in behind his back, didn’t you?” the man said with a raised eyebrow.  
“Yeah….” Rin muttered.  
Marcoh rubbed his temples and sighed. “That explains alot…” he muttered, “So what was it that you boys wanted to know?”  
“We wanted to know about what you did in your time in the military,” Alphonse asked, “Is it really true you searched for the philosopher's stone?”  
He gave them a hard look before answering. “Yes and I deserted the battlefield. And when I left, I stole all the research I'd compiled at the time; Their books, my notes. I have a hunch the military's still looking for me so they can see what I found out,” he explained.  
Ed’s eyes lit up. “So you can help us! You can help us find it!” he exclaimed.  
“Forget it,” Marcoh growled, “I can't show you my work. The orders from above notwithstanding, I dirtied my hands with that research. Then the military, they put it to use on those people in that Eastern Rebellion massacre.”  
“Eastern Rebelion?” Rin questioned.  
“You mean that uprising in Ishval?” Edward asked.  
“Armageddon. That's the only word that fits that battle. Women, children, it didn't matter, everyone was killed. And there wasn't any real reason. All they said was the people of Ishbal defied them,” he explained, “Spoke out against the system. What I was responsible for, I could never make up, even taking my life would be a token gesture. So I decided to vanish, and become a doctor. Help people, and slowly work off some fraction of the debt. Now get out.”  
“Wait a minute!” Rin said, voice low, “What do you mean Armagedon? And civilians getting killed? When did that happen?” Rin couldn’t help from get a sinking feeling in his stomach as Marcoh’s words sunk in. Rin felt like he had been lied to. He thought Ishval had just been a regular skirmish like what was going on with Creta. Granted he had never really looked into the subject much or asked about it.  
Marcoh got a look on his face. A look of surprise and pity. So mustang hadn’t told the boy. That explained why he was so eager to get into the program. “The war was more than just a war kid,” he said, “Terrible atrocities were committed there.”  
“What kind of atrocities?” Rin questioned growing more worried.  
“I’m sorry...I don’t think I was supposed to tell you,” Marcoh said sincerely, “I think this is something your father wanted to discuss with you on his own terms.” The doctor didn’t feel it was his right to explain it to him. He didn’t know half of what Mustang had gone through, only his own experiences. “Now you three really need to leave,” he stated.  
“We’re not leaving until we get answers on the stone,” Edward said.  
“And I’M not leaving until I get answers about Ishval,” Rin stated.  
“You are all going to leave right now if you know what’s good for you!” the four people in the room turned to see Brigadier General Basque Grand and several other men.  
“The Brigadier….” Rin snarled, “not again!”  
“Brigadier Basque?” Marcoh sneered, “Well, you've wormed your way up.”  
“You're damn right, Crystal Alchemist,”And now you'll turn the Philosopher's Stone and your research over to me.”  
“I don’t have any,” Marcoh denied.  
“Oh really?”the brigadier general said, “Search the building!” In seconds  
soldiers were all over the place, tearing down shelves, overturning furniture, until someone found a hollow space in the wall.  
“General? I think I found something!” the soldier shouted.  
“Out of the way!” Basque said, shoving Rin aside. He turned his hand into a gauntlet before smashing the wall. He pulled out a red vile.  
“Philosopher's Stone? That thing?” Ed questioned.  
“It looks more like that red water…” Rin noted.  
“In liquid form. An experimental leap at best, roulette at worst. You never know when it will reach its limit and backfire. An unstable, defective product, different from the true stone. But during the rebellion, it did augment our abilities. And make us tremendously powerful,” Grand said, examining it, “And now it, and Marcoh, are coming with me.”  
Two men grabbed hold of the middle aged man. “No! Let go of me!” He cried, struggling, “Please! I'm sorry I ran! Have mercy! You can't take me back! I can't go back to that place! It's too much! I can't take it! The testing. The experiments! My hands are already stained! Please!”  
“Dr. Marcoh!” Alphonse cried as they pulled him out the door.  
“Let him go!” Rin demanded pulling out his gloves as they ran out the door after them. When they got outside, the general had already gotten the Dr. into his car and was driving off.  
“No!” Ed growled and swore, “Not again! He took him just like Nina!”  
“Yeah? Well he’s not getting away with it!” Rin snarled. The two boys began running after the car with Alphonse trailing behind. Rin was prepared to snap to explode the tires, but he didn’t have to. The car screeched to a halt on its own. The three slowed in confusion until they saw the car explode.  
“What the hell?!” Edward cried.  
“Is Dr. Marcoh ok?” Al question. The dust cleared and the three were both surprised and relieved to find he was alright. They began running towards them again when they noticed something. There was a figure standing in front of Basque Grand  
“Wait,” Ed said, noticing the X shaped scar on the man’s face, “I saw that guy in Central!”  
“Hey, me too!” Rin exclaimed, “The heck is he doing here?”  
They quickly found out as the man attacked Basque Grand, pressing his palm to his forehead and causing his skull to explode in a flash of light. The three boys were struck with horror as they watched the large man fall back into a pool of his own blood. Rin’s legs shook. He thought he was going to be sick.  
“He...he murdered Basque!” Alphonse exclaimed.  
“Crystal Alchemist Doctor Marcoh,” the man said, approaching him, “I heard you were dead. I'll have to take special care...to wash you out of this world for your transgressions.” He extended his hand out to Marcoh who was kneeling on the ground, looking up in fear.  
Rin had been paralyzed before but as he saw what the man was about to do, he snapped out of it. “NO!” he shouted, snapping his fingers.  
Scar was pushed back by the blast of blue flames. He landed on his backside and Edward took the opportunity to grab Marcoh and run. Scar furrowed his eyes as he patted out the fire. “These flames…” he muttered, “Why do they carry such an unearthly color?” He looked up to see them running away. It didn’t make any sense. If he remembered right, the Flame Alchemist’s fires were red and orange? Why were his son’s different?  
He growled. He didn’t have time to think about this. He needed to end those pesky alchemists, before they could destroy anyone else’s lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A headcanon of mine is that the wine made for Kuro only tastes good to demons


	5. Revelations part 2

The four ran as fast as they could. “Do you think he’s still tailing us?” Rin asked. Ed looked over his shoulder and cursed. “I take that as a yes,” Rin muttered.  
“Spitfire! Fullmetal! You will not escape me either!” Scar called.  
“He knows our names too?!” Rin cried, “Jeez what did we do to piss him off? I only met him once…”  
“Hell if I know!” Ed responded, “All I did was tell him he couldn’t go in the library!”  
They continued to run, hoping to lose him. They saw Al up ahead motioning to them to enter a tunnel. They ran in and he sealed it up with alchemy.   
“Thanks Al,” Rin said, sighing in relief. Ed relaxed as well, but it didn’t last long, as red sparks flew from the brinks. They all backed up as the wall exploded and Scar strolled in.  
“Shit! Does this guy ever give up?!” Rin exclaimed.  
“Let’s find out! Come on!” Ed grabbed his arm and they started running. They didn’t get far, as Scar touched the wall and cause the tunnel area in front of them to collapse.  
“Who the hell are you?!” Ed demanded.  
“If you're the creators of this society, there must also be destroyers,” Scar said.  
“No, I’m pretty sure there doesn’t have to be!” Rin snapped.  
“You can't understand,” Marcoh pleaded, “Please, boys, leave me and run!” None of them listened. Rin got ready to snap his fingers, Ed transmuted a knife, and Al got into a fighting position.  
“You have a kind look in your eyes. My older brother's were exactly the same. Eyes that were strong, and peered into the endless distance, as if seeing something we could not. It was three years ago, yes. I was glad to hear you'd given up being a State Alchemist, so I could take you off my list. But now…” He said.   
“Yeah, now. Too bad, isn't it?” Edward said lunging for him.  
Scar easily dodged. “Too slow,” he snarled, about to grab Edward. Al moved to push Ed out of the way, but Rin was quicker. With a snap, Scar was sent flying into a wall by an explosion of blue fire.  
Scar picked himself up, seeing his glasses lying broken on the ground. He then turned towards Rin and glared at him. “You,” he said, “I pictured you’d be a model of what your father is. Though your eyes are not nearly as cold, in some ways you still resemble him. I can see the monster in you. The color of your fire is certainly fitting of your heritage. Though it would have suited the Flame Alchemist more.”  
Rin blinked in confusion before getting defensive. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded.   
“In my country, flames like those were the symbol of damnation. But it does not matter,” he said, “Your wicked flames will perish with you.”  
“But why?” Ed demanded, “Why are you after us?”  
“Alchemists are those who take things away from their natural form and convert them into something grotesque,” the man explained, “In hubris, they profane God, Creator of all, claiming they have a better design. I come as a right hand, an agent of God, to carry out his judgments.”  
Rin huffed in amusement. “You know, it’s funny,” he said, “I was raised under a religion that believed the opposite. That humans were given dominion over the Earth by God to care for and do with as they pleased.”  
“That only proves my point,” Scar said, “Your doctrine is heretical.”  
“And yours is hypocritical,” Rin fired back, “If it’s wrong to change things from the way they naturally were, then isn’t it also wrong to build homes, make paper, or weave fabric? I doubt bricks naturally form in squares or that paper grows in the wild.” “Or does it make exceptions for those things? In which case how is alchemy any different?” Rin questioned.  
Scar growled at him. “Stop angering him, boy!” Marcoh hissed, but it was too late.  
“How dare you attempt to twist the words of God!” Scar snarled, “You understand nothing of my faith or my people! Alchemy is not the same as those things. It allows men to mess with lives in ways only God should have the power to do. If you truly understood the evils of your ways, you would relinquish your practice of them.”  
“Maybe I don’t understand your faith, but I have seen plenty of evils,” Rin retorted, “But the only one I see now is you!” Scar charged at him and Rin ducked, punching him in the stomach. Though Scar had the wind knocked out of him, he grabbed Rin’s arm. Red sparks began to form in his hand, but stopped when Ed suddenly slashed him across the back. Scar turned and grabbed Ed’s automail arm. Red sparks flew and there was a snapping sound, but the arm did not explode.  
“Brother!” Al cried, moving to protect him.  
“Damn it!” Ed cried, “He jammed it! I can’t move it!” It was true. Everything below the elbow was stiff and unresponsive.  
“Auto-mail,” Scar sneered, “So your right arm begets nothing but destruction, also.”  
“Don't you start with that,” Ed bit back, “We're nothing alike, pal.” Ed moved to attack again, but was cut off as the wall exploded. Alchemic energy flew in every direction as a tall, buff man with a mustache stepped in.  
“Major Armstrong?!” Rin exclaimed.  
“It’s good to see you, young Mustang!” he bellowed, “Though I wish we could have met again under better circumstances! Perhaps you and you brother can visit my family's estate some time.”  
“You've come for Doctor Marcoh?” Al asked.  
“That is incorrect!” he continued, “The Lieutenant Colonel ordered me to tail you as protection. Now that I’m here, you boys should vacate the area while I deal with this villain with the technique passed down the armstrong line for generations!” They didn’t need to be told twice. They ran out through the hole Armstrong had made in the wall. As they ran they heard explosions.  
“Do you think he’ll be ok?” Al asked.  
“The major?” Rin said, “He’ll be fine. Nothing can take him down. He’s an Armstrong!”  
…  
Envy was going to kill Lust at least three times when this was all over. He could not believe he had agreed to this. Why the hell did he have to be bait?   
“Because we know it will go after you and if we put Gluttony up to it, he’ll just end up eating the cat and it will be suspicious if their gaurd-cat is suddenly gone. And If I leave you two to search the house, you’ll just destroy the place. We can’t let anyone know we were here.” She had said.  
He didn’t care how sound her argument was logically, he hated fighting. Well, mostly fighting this thing. He hated this little pest. It just wasn’t fair! How could something so small pack such a big punch?! Plus, he wasn’t even aloud to maim the cat a little. He was supposed to lose! That's just no fun. What would be fun, would be skinning that thing alive, but noooo….  
Well it didn’t matter now. He had a job to do: get the cat away from the house. He pretended to sneak along the side of the house. As he got closer, his hopes rose that he wouldn’t run into it. Maybe, just maybe, it was busy hunting a mouse or got lost or hit by a car, or….  
“Mrrrrrrrrrrrowwwwww…..HISSSSSSSSSS!” Envy sighed and turned to see the black demon cat arching its back at him. A deep hatred was visible in its eyes. Its claws that could rake through concrete were already unsheathed, and its teeth that could pierce steel were bared. It looked ready to pounce on him with all 8.8 lbs of itself that always managed to hit him with the same forces as a small car.   
Envy forced a wicked smile, “Hey there, kitty!” he chirped, “Long time no see. Wanna play?” He turned his arm into a blade. The cat leapt at his face and Envy cried out as he fell over from the force. He stumbled back onto his feet as he attempted pull it off to no avail.   
Lust watched in amusement from the sidelines. “Come on Gluttony,” she said, “Let’s let those two have their fun.” With that, they carefully snuck inside the house.  
…  
The four had finally gotten back into East City. They ran past a playground before finally stopping. They panted and sat down for a rest. “Ok...I think we’re safe now,” Rin said slumping to the ground.  
“Not yet,” Ed said, “We have to get Marcoh out of East city. There are too many military officers what with the big move from Central.”  
Rin growled and stamped his foot. “Damn it!” he growled, “Why can nothing ever be easy?!” It began to rain.  
“I don’t understand,” Marcoh said, “Are all these officers here...because of me?”  
Ed gave a dry laugh. “Don’t give yourself too much credit!” he teased, “It has nothing to do with you, but I wouldn’t throw out the idea that it might of had to do with Scar.”  
Marcoh sighed. “I can’t do this,” he sighed, “I've run away from it long enough. I won't do it now. I don't care if that man kills me.”  
“Why are you acting like this?” Ed demanded, “You can’t just give up.”  
“Yeah!” Al added, You deserve to live. Everyone does.”  
“I don’t,” Marcoh muttered.  
“I'm missing the connection. Why do you deserve death just cause he's from Ishval?” Ed questioned.  
“Yeah,” Rin said standing up and walking over to him, “I want answers too. What exactly happened in Ishval?”  
Marcoh looked up at him saddly. “Fine, I’ll tell you,” he sighed, and so he began his tale. He told them of how the Ishvalans refused to accept alchemy because it made a mockery of their God’s work and put man on a pedestal. He told of how this made them hostile against annexation which lead to high tensions. He told of how the war began from outrage of the death of a small child but grew and grew until it had become out of control. How the military used excessive force on people who had barely any resources. That even when they had nothing left, the military continued the slaughter, sending in the state alchemists for extermination. How it turned into slaughtering anyone who stood in the military’s way, including doctors. How he had been forced to make philosopher’s stones to aid in the slaughter. As he finished, Rin found himself slack-jawed with horror and disbelief.  
“No…” he breathed, “You can’t be telling the truth…”  
“I’m sorry, but It’s all true,” he said.  
“No!” Rin shouted, “Dad wouldn’t...he couldn’t…” But the more Rin thought about it, the more it made sense. He had always avoided really talking about Ishval aside from saying it had been horrible. He never tried to defend the military. And then there was that time as a kid when he set that man who had tried to kill him on fire. Rin remembered how furious he looked, how his eyes had been cold and merciless. “He said a state alchemist’s job was to protect the people,” Rin said, voice quivering.  
“Not always,” Marcoh muttered, pitying the boy, “State alchemists are called dogs of the military for a reason. Their duty is to the government first, and if the government says to kill the people they were supposed to protect, they have no choice but to oblige.”  
Rin felt sick. These past nine years he had spent with Roy...he had been living with a man who aided in genocide. A man who worked for a government not much different than the Nazi’s. Rin remembered sneaking out of his room late one night when he was five to sneak candy and ended up accidentally watching part of a documentary on the subject when the TV had been left on. Knowing horrors like that had happened traumatized him enough, but living under a government that wasn’t too far off did even more so. ‘No wonder they call him Further…’ Rin thought bitterly. Rin slid to the ground as a horrible thought came to mind. “Earlier you said women and children were killed…” he spoke up.  
Marcoh nodded sadly and Rin felt like he was going to throw up. How many children his age did his father kill? How did he manage to look at any child without feeling immeasurable guilt? Or did he somehow separate the ideas. Did he not think the Ishvalan counted as people.  
Edward and Alphonse gave him a look of pity. “Rin…” Alphonse said, sitting down next to him, “It’s alright.”   
“No it’s not!” Rin screamed at him, “He killed innocent people Al! He killed children!”  
“Yeah, but he didn’t do it willingly,” Edward spoke up, “No one had a choice. I doubt he would have if he did. He probably feels guilty to this day. Right Marcoh?”  
The middle aged man looked up and nodded. “It’s true,” he said, “Roy Mustang felt terribly guilty for what he had done. Infact, he had believed for a while he was not fit to live after all his crimes.”  
Rin looked at him and nodded. “And I bet he hasn’t stopped feeling bad about it,” Al added, “It would explain why he didn’t want you to become a state alchemist.”   
“I guess you do have a point,” Rin said, feeling more assured. His father was far from heartless. He really did care for him and Yukio and he had helped Marcoh escape the military. He wasn’t a horrible person deep down. But one questioned still plagued his mind. “Why didn’t he leave like you?” Rin asked.  
Marcoh sighed. “i’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that,” he said, “you’ll have to ask him yourself.”  
Rin nodded and got up. “Come on,” Rin said, “Let’s keep moving then.”  
“Where are we going to take him?” Al asked, “Maybe Risembool?”  
“Don’t you think that would be the first place they would look if they knew you guys were helping him?” Rin pointed out.  
“How about he heads to the western border?” Edward said, “there are few small towns out that way that are about as far away from major military outposts as you can get.”  
“Good idea,” Rin said smiling, “All we have to do is get him on a train!” On that note, the four headed out again.  
…  
“Dead?” Yukio cried, “Basque Grand is dead?” He was finishing up tending to Armstrong’s wounds. He kinda felt bad now for faking his death so many times when his brother and himself would play pretend as kids.”  
“Unfortunately yes,” Hughes said, “Though I suppose it’s not entirely surprising. I don’t think he realised what he was up against.”  
“Or he was just too damn cocky to think he could lose,” Mustang added. He then turned to Fuery and Falman. “I want you two to take Yukio back to HQ with Armstrong and the injured soldiers from the General’s vehicle. I believe he needs to be getting back to his duties there.” The men nodded, but Yukio protested at the idea.   
“Dad, no,” he stated, “You need me here.”  
“Yukio, this is dangerous business,” Mustang retorted, “We’re dealing with a murderer who can kill people just by touching their foreheads. Plus, he’s going after state alchemists like you and I!” Roy couldn’t help feel guilty over the fact that he had let Yukio become one now that there was a murderer out to get them. “Besides, You’re brother’s already out there and we need to find him and fullmetal, ” he continued “I don’t want both of you to be in danger.”  
“That's exactly why I should come with,” Yukio stated, “We need to find Rin and two heads are better than one. Plus, what if he’s injured?” Roy considered this. Yukio had a fair point. Maybe he wasn’t thinking rationally and should let him come along. At the very least he should leave him with the other men incase someone else gets injured.  
“I agree with Yukio, Sir,” Riza spoke up, “You should have a small team with you if you plan to go looking for Rin and the Elrics. That man is going after any state alchemist. You’d be as much of a target as Edward or Yukio or even Armstrong and unlike them, your Alchemy is no good in the rain.”  
Roy frowned at her in annoyance before relenting. However his frown dissipated and was replaced by a look of horror as he realized something. “Dad?” Yukio asked, “What's wrong?”  
“Rin’s alchemy,” he hissed in a low voice, “It won’t work in the rain either! He’s got no way to summon his flames!”  
Yukio and Riza both bore similar expressions as him before they were replaced by determination. “Hawkeye, Havock, Breda,” he commanded, “You’re coming with Yukio and I.” “Hughes,” he called, “You continue tracking down Scar.” The man nodded and the group of five headed out.


	6. Revelations part 3

Ed peaked around the corner. When he saw nothing, he gestured for them to follow. They darted down to the other end of the alley before he gestured for them to stop. Two soldiers were sitting at a table eating their lunch not three feet away from the entrance.  
“Damn it!” Ed hissed, turning back to the group, “Looks like we’ll have to find another way.” Rin and Al sighed.  
“I told you kids this wasn’t worth the trouble,” Marcoh sighed,“You three should be more concerned with finding somewhere safe from Scar.”  
“Would you stop dumping on yourself?!” Rin hissed, “It’s really hard to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved!”  
“Well, then maybe you should stop trying!” Marcoh retorted.  
“Shhhh!” Ed hushed, “There are soldiers right there!” All of a sudden, one of them stood up. “Uh oh…” Ed said. Thankfully, he hadn’t actually noticed them. He was just answering his radio.  
“Hello?” he said. All of a sudden his eyes grew wide. “What?!” he cried, “You’re serious?!” The group of four became more curious about what he was talking about. “Alright, we’ll be right there!” he said, before turning to his colleague. “Scar’s in the city!” he exclaimed, “Come on, he was spotted not too far from here! We gotta go.” The two then paid for their ticket and headed out.  
There was a pause before Rin spoke. “Seriously! What does it take to stop this guy?!” he snapped.  
“I don’t know,” Ed said slumping to the ground, “And I don’t think we can avoid him and the soldiers.”  
“Ugh...this would be so much easier if we could just hide him…” Rin growled.  
Alphonse looked at the ground and sighed. Then his eyes lit up and he stuck a finger in the air. “We do have a way to hide him!” he exclaimed.  
Everyone looked at him in confusion. “How?” Rin asked.  
“He can hide inside my armor and Scar won’t go after him because I’m not a state alchemist,” he explained.  
“That’s a perfect idea!” Rin said.  
“Wait a minute,” Marcoh said, “How will I be able to wear that? I’m not nearly as tall as him”  
The three boys shrunk as they realised they have to give themselves away. “I’d sort of just be carrying you. My armor is empty…” Al said, “You see, my soul was bonded to this armor…”  
“That's why we wanted the stone, so we could get him back to normal,” Ed said. Marcoh nodded, a sad, yet understanding look in his eyes. “But it's not going to work,” Ed said, “It’ll be too suspicious if just Marcoh is gone….the only way it will work is if we split up.”  
The was a pause between them. Before Rin spoke up again. “If that's what we have to do, it’s what we have to do,” he said, “He can’t chase us all. Besides, this way we can walk through the regular streets. He won’t attack us around people.  
“I guess you have a point,” Ed said, “alright. Then we’ll split up and meet up at the train station.”  
….  
People say one of the quickest ways to die is from getting your throat slit. In actuality, a quicker way is by having one’s left Subclavian artery severed. Envy fell to the ground, dead seconds after having his cut. He was back up in less than a minute, but by then, the damned cat was already to attack again. Envy was absolutely sick of this. This was the third time it had managed to sever it and the fifth time the cat had gone for it. Even its methods of killing him were starting to get stale! “Is that...all you got?” he demanded as he glared at it. He turned his hand into a snake and had it lunge for the feline.  
The cat dodged and used the snake arm to climb him, claws already unsheathed as its eyes were locked on his. “Oh no…” He muttered and cursed under his breath. “Not the eyes!” he cried as he brought an arm up to his face.  
He cursed as his vision healed. “Grrrrr...I’m going to turn your innards into guitar strings when I get my hands on you!” he shrieked as he lunged for it. The cat hissed and leapt onto his shoulder to dodge him as hit the wall, causing a large crack. To add insult to injury, Kuro used the opportunity to bite off his ear.  
“SHIT!” he cried as he cupped the spot where his ear had been while it regenerated. He turned and glared at the cat, which he swore was smirking at him. If looks could kill, the feline would have had three nuclear warheads dropped on its head by now. Oh how he loathed that thing. But right now he loathed Lust just as much for putting him up to this. Speaking of which, what the hell was taking so long?!  
….  
“Lust? Can I eat this?”  
“No,” she said, not even bothering to look up.  
“What about this?”  
“No,” she responded, still focused on the task at hand, “You can’t eat anything here. We can’t leave any trace we were here.”  
“But if I eat something, I won’t be leaving anything behind,” he reasoned.  
Lust looked up for a second. She didn’t know how to respond to that. He was technically right. “Gluttony, if you do not touch anything here, I promise you’ll get a nice juicy human when we get home,” she offered.  
Gluttony gasped. “Really?!” he cried in excitement.  
“Yes,” she said, “Now let me finish this.” She turned back to the task at hand: breaking into the long black case she found in the closet. She was pretty sure this was it. It was too long to be a brief case, not wide enough to be a large gun, and didn’t look like any instrument case she had ever seen. Still she had to be sure. She doubted Envy would be willing to go through with this again.  
Whatever it was had to be important though. She spent a full hour cracking the first two combinations. She could tell she was getting close. She just had to be patient....  
Click!  
Lust smirked and opened the case. It grew into a wide grin as she saw her prize: a beautiful black katana sword. She brushed her fingers against it. She was tempted to open it, but decided against it. Still, her fingers lingered on the hilt. The sword was beautiful. Almost mesmerising….Maybe she could open it just a little...  
“Lust?” Gluttony said, snapping her out of it, “What is that?”  
She blinked for a second before closing the case and standing up. “What we came here for, Gluttony,” she said, “Now come on. Let’s not stay here longer than we have to.” Gluttony lumbered out the door while Lust turned to close the closet door.  
….  
Rin ran down the alley way as fast as he he could as he continued on his path to the train station to meet up with the others. He had decided to take a short cut. The rain was really starting to come down as he reached the end of the alleyway, he slipped and fell in the mud. Rin cursed as he got up, mildly annoyed. His annoyance turned into surprise as he saw Scar standing before him.  
“Rin Mustang,” he growled, “Son of the monster himself Roy Mustang. I may not be able to get rid of the Crystal Alchemist as planned, but at least I can get rid of you.”  
“You’re not going to be able to do anything with burnt hands!” Rin said with a smirk, snapping his fingers. His smile faded as nothing happened. Scar gave him an incredulous look and took the moment of confusion to charge at Rin.  
The boy yelped before ducking and dodging. As he did, he realised what was wrong. ‘Crap!’ he thought,’My ignition gloves are too wet to produce a spark!’ Without any other options, Rin turned and ran. Scar chased him down several alleys before deciding enough was enough. He slammed the palm of his tattooed hand into the side in a building. Part of it exploded right on top of Rin and he had to leap out of the way to avoid being crushed.  
As he landed on the ground with a thud, he escaped most of the rubble. However, his left leg was crushed by a heavy brick. He cried out in pain as the bones in his leg were shattered. He tried to tug himself free as the Ishvalan approached him. When that didn’t work he began crying out. “Help!” he shouted, “Somebody! Anybody!”  
“Your screams fall on deaf ears, child,” Scar said, “Just as the screams of my people did on the ears of Amestrian soldiers like you.”  
Rin began to panic even more as he got closer. He desperately struggled beneath the stone. “Stay away from me!” he demanded as the man got closer. Rin could feel his heart about to break out of his chest. Liquid fear pumped through his veins. As Scar reached his hand out towards him, Rin’s life flashed before his eyes. “Stay back!” he snapped desperately. He didn’t want to die. Not like this. He couldn’t die this way. “I SAID STAY BACK!” he roared.  
All of a sudden there was an explosion of blue flames. Scar was thrown backwards slightly as his coat had caught fire. He quickly ripped it off and tossed it into a puddle on the ground. The fire still burned anyways. It even started to consume the puddle. Scar turned to Rin in surprise, but was even more surprised to find that small flames clung to the very confused and equally surprised boy but did not burn him.  
“Those blue flames…” he hissed, backing away, “They were not made with alchemy! They are...unreal! How did you…” Scar could only stare at the being before him as realization dawned on him. He understood now. This boy...he was not human. How could he be? Those flames, his immunity to them, the way he attempted to twist the words of Ishvala, it all pointed to one thing.  
“It all makes sense now. You are not merely the son of the Flame Alchemist...” Scar spat, “You are Shaitan, the destroyer!”  
Rin blinked in confusion, though he was still very much scared. “Wh-what?” he said dumbly.  
“Do not play dumb with me, devil!” Scar snarled, “I know you have taken that boy’s body for a host! The blue fire is proof. You’ve returned to this realm again to destroy it! To continue to slaughter innocent lives.” Scar remembered the stories he had been told at the temple when he was young. They told the children about the destroyer to make them behave. The tales went that a hundreds of years ago, a man in Xerxes released the evil spirit onto the world with alchemy. He leveled Xerxes in one night before moving on to Ishval. He engulfed people in his blue flames, burning them alive. He preyed upon the sinful, but would destroy whoever got in his way good or bad. He had legions of other manners of beasts that followed him, wreaking havoc upon the world.  
The people prayed and prayed for their suffering to end and finally it did. Ishvala took pity on his people and all of sudden the destroyer was gone. His beasts soon disappeared along with him. The people rejoiced, praising Ishvala in his kindness. However, the fear still lingered that the destroyer would return. And now he has.  
“I’m not Shaitan! I don’t even know who that is!!” Rin insisted desperately as he saw the rage and hatred growing on Scar’s face, “I don’t want to kill anyone! honest!” He tried to struggle to get his leg out from under the rock.  
“LIAR!” the ishvalan roared, “I know your intentions, monster! Your pleading will not work on me! Though I may not mind in seeing my enemies burn in your flames, I cannot let you harm the innocent people of this world, even if it means I must die with you.” Scar began to reach out his hand again to Rin’s forehead.  
“No! Nonono!” he pleaded, desperately trying to get his powers to work again, “Don’t touch me!” He swung his arms wildly to knock the man away, but he caught both in one of his own. If only he could scare him off with another blast. He struggled against the rock, only bringing himself more pain. “Please! I’m not the destroyer or a monster!” he cried, “I’m just a human, I swear! I’m human! I’m HUMAN!” He shut his eyes tightly as he could feel the hand brush the hair falling in his face. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be anywhere but here. He wanted to be home.  
….  
Roy and Yukio turned the corner just in time to see Scar about to place his hand on Rin’s forehead. Roy’s heart stopped for a moment. Then it began pumping even faster with rage. He raised his hand to snap his fingers…but he froze when he realized something. His gloves were still wet and he didn’t have a gun. He couldn’t do anything but watch. Fear filled his stomach. He was powerless and Rin was going to die.  
...But thankfully, Yukio was less powerless. He pulled out his guns and fired at Scar. The man cried out and clutched his arm as one bullet hit him in the bicep. He turned to them.  
“Stand down Scar!” he commanded  
The man growled at him. “You’re making a mistake!” he shouted, “This boy is a monster!”  
Rage filled Roy’s stomach again as he grabbed one of Yukio’s guns and fired at Scar, who just barely dodged. “How dare you call my son that!” he roared, “How dare you try to take his life!” Roy fired a few more times before Scar decided to run down the alley to escape. When he reached the end, he was greeted by Havock, Hawkeye, and Breda. They all had guns at the ready. Scar had nowhere to run, so he did the only thing he could. He pressed his hand to the ground and transmuted a giant hole for him to escape through. When the dust settled he was gone.  
Rin’s heart was still beating a mile a minute as he slumped to the ground. His whole body shook. He had almost died! If Yukio and Dad had shown up a moment later…He brought a hand to his chest as he continued to hyperventilate.  
“Rin!” Roy cried rushing over to him. Before he knew what was happening, Roy had scooped him up in his arms and was hugging him tightly as Yukio removed the rocks covering his broken leg.  
He looked Rin over to make sure he was ok before letting out a deep breath and hugging him again. Roy was so relieved and scared at the same time. If they had only gotten there a second later, Rin would have been gone. The body Roy would have been holding now would have been lifeless and cold and his tears would be ones of sorrow and anger rather than relief. He clutched the boy’s body for dear life as he half laughed, half sobbed.  
Rin felt slightly confused as he came out of his shock a little. Usually when things like this happened, he was the one crying. “D-dad?” He asked, voice still shaky.  
“It’s ok, Rin,” the man whispered, “It’s fine now. Everything’s fine. Your brother saved you, and everything's fine…” He sounded like he was calming himself down as much as he was trying to calm Rin. Rin slowly raised his shaking hands to wrap around the older man. As he did so he began to calm down. For a moment he almost started laughing too. His fear turned to exhaustion and he passed out.  
…  
Rin woke up later in the infirmary a while later. His leg had been completely healed thanks to his brother’s alkahestry. Ed and Al had visited him, letting him know that Marcoh had gotten on a train heading west.  
He was happy that they had managed that, but his mind was still restless. There was one question in his mind still plaguing it. Rin walked into Roy’s office. Well more limped. Yukio may have healed his leg, but it was still sore.  
Roy looked up and smiled. “Hello Rin,” he said, “I’m glad to see you up and about. Though I thought Yukio told you to get more rest.”  
“You know me,” he said, “I was never very patient.”  
“That you weren’t,” he said, “But I’ll have you and Fullmetal take a short break from missions for now. The last thing I think either of you need is a mission to god knows where after nearly dying.”  
“Yeah,” he said, “Part of why I was here was to see if you’d be willing to let Yukio and I travel to Risembool with Ed and Al to get Ed’s automail fixed.”  
Roy seemed to consider this, “Alright,” he said, “You two need to spend some time together after all. You haven’t had much recently. Give me a call when you arrive, however.” Rin nodded. “Now,” he said, “What was the other thing you wanted to talk about.”  
Rin paused and frowned at this. Time to get to the point. “I want to know why you stayed a state alchemist after Ishval,” he said. Roy looked taken aback by this. “Dr. Marcoh told me about what had happened in the war. What the state alchemists were forced to do,” he said. Roy froze. Rin could see the hint of fear behind his eyes in his otherwise calm face.  
Roy knew this was coming. Rin was old enough to understand. He just wished he had been the one to explain it to him. “Rin, I’m sorry you had to find out this-,” Roy started, but Rin cut him off.  
“Stop,” Rin said, “I don’t want you to apologise. I get it. You felt guilty. You didn’t enjoy thinking about it. You didn’t want us to think you were a monster or for us to start hating you. That’s kinda the same reason we don’t tell people about our dad.” “I don’t hate you…but I want to know why you didn’t leave the military,” he continued, “After all you did, and how guilty you felt about it, why didn’t you just leave like Marcoh?”  
Roy nodded. He then laced his fingers together and hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose my reasoning wasn’t much different than yours after Nina, Rin,” he said, “The truth was I was disgusted with this country. And so I vowed to change it for the better. I vowed that I would one day become Fuhrer so I could get rid of as much corruption in the government as possible and stop the constant border skirmishes.”  
Rin smiled at that. “Thanks for letting me know,” he said. “I guess he was right in a way…” Rin mumbled in a low voice.  
“Hmm?” Roy said, looking up from his desk again.  
“Nothing,” Rin said, waving him off.  
“Now that I told your,” Roy said, “I have to ask you not to tell anyone my ambition. Admitting one plans to become Fuhrer can be seen as a mark of self centeredness and vanity at best and a treasonous statement at worst.” Rin nodded. “Good,” he said, “Now I have to ask, now that you know what the military has done, are you going to continue to be a state alchemist?”  
Rin frowned looking down in thought, “I’m not sure,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “I will definetly stay to help Al and Ed get back to normal, but after that, I don’t know.” Roy nodded and Rin looked up with a smile. “Maybe I’ll stay if you do become Fuhrer. I’m sure I could get some sweet privileges from that!”  
Roy raised and eyebrow and chuckled. “If you expect any special privileges from me, you’re going to be very disappointed,” he said, “It’s Maes’ job to spoil you, not mine. Now go get some rest. Don’t make me sent Hawkeye in here to drag you by your ear back to the infirmary.”  
Rin could feel himself getting nervous at the thought. “Alright! Alright!” he said, “I’m leaving already!” With that he backed out the door and began heading back down the hall.  
….  
Envy, Lust, and Gluttony returned to the underground with their prize, heads held high. To be honest, Envy was just glad the whole ordeal was over. As they walked into Father’s chamber, they found the others waiting there. “So, you actually managed to get it,” Pride said, “With how long it was taking you, I didn’t think you would succeed.”  
Envy glared in his eldest sibling’s direction. “If you had to go through what I had to to get this, you wouldn’t be so quick to make comments like that,” he retorted.  
“If I were in your position it would have been done a long time ago,” Pride retorted.  
Envy was about to retort when Astaroth spoke up.  
“Enough of your squabbling!” he snapped, “Just hand over the sword!” Lust opened the case and pulled out the sword before walking over to the demon king. He grinned as he curled his fingers around it, but then froze and his eyes widened. His smile fell as he looked shocked.  
Lust narrowed her eyes. “What?” she questioned, “Is something wrong?”  
“Don’t tell me you got the wrong sword!” Envy growled, “If we have to go back there again because of this, I’m gonna-”  
All of a sudden the demon started laughing. The homunculi and Farther all looked confused. “Astaroth,” Father ordered, “Explain what is so funny about this?”  
“Those idiots!” the demon cried in mirth, “They sealed away the boy’s powers in the sword!” “How ironic! One of the greatest demon slaying swords in existence is laced with the powers of Satan himself!” he continued, exploding with more laughter.  
“Wait,” Envy said, “Does that mean we don’t need the kid anymore?”  
“No,” Astaroth said examining the sword, “The boy is still necessary. He’s still just as important as any of your human sacrifices.”  
“So how would we go about releasing the power?” Father asked.  
“All one would need to do is open the sword,” Astaroth explained.  
“Alright then!” Envy said, rubbing his hands together, “Let’s test this puppy out!”  
“No!” the demon king hissed, “If we open it now, the power will return to the boy, and trust me he will notice. And if he notices, he may decide to go into hiding. We’ll have to capture and contain him first…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: not all of scar's story is accurate. Some parts are more explainations than anything else, particularly the part about xerxes.


	7. To return home

Alphonse relaxed in his seat. “I’m excited to see Winry,” he said, “It’s been so long since we've seen her.”   
“I’m interested to meet this Winry girl too,” Yukio said, bringing a hand to his chin, “I missed my chance when she visited in the past.”   
“Yeah….I’m sure it will be great!” Rin grumbled, slumped into his seat.   
“I just wish we didn’t have to have an escort with us!” Ed hissed. In between him and Rin sat Alex Louis Armstrong.  
“Oh calm down, you two,” Yukio said, “It’s only until we get to Risembool.”  
“That is correct young Mustang,” Armstrong said, “I was to return to Central anyways, the Colonel simply wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to you.”  
“We don’t need an escort,” Rin said, “We’re fine!”  
Yukio raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but who was the one who almost died a few days ago?” he snapped. Rin shrunk in his seat a little. “Dad has every right to be worried about us,” he said, “Infact, I wouldn’t have put it past him to have just made us stay in East City for a while.”  
“Fair point…” Rin muttered.  
“Besides,” Al added ecstatically, “This is the first time anyone has treated me like a child since I got in this suit!” Rin and Edward both hummed in amusement. Sometimes they forgot not everyone wanted to grow up as fast as them. They both silently decided to stop griping about their situation for him.  
….  
One good thing about having Armstrong as an escort was that he was able to carry all of their luggage at once. This was convenient considering the road to the Rockbell residence was a long way from the station. When they arrived they were greeted by a small old woman with a ponytail.  
“Ed, who’s this?” Rin asked.  
“This is Winry’s grandma, Pinako,” he explained, “Good to see you again, old lady!”  
She crooked an eyebrow at this. “Good to see you too, boys,” she said, “My Ed, it appears you’ve gotten shorter.”  
Rin had to stop himself from laughing at Ed’s reaction. “Granny…” he growled, “You’re supposed to say how tall I’ve gotten!”  
“Why would I lie like that?” she retorted.  
With that Rin couldn’t contain himself. “Aw snap!” he cried bursting out laughing.   
“AT LEAST I’M TALLER THAN YOU YOU MINI HAG!” Ed screeched.  
“Easy there, Ed!” Yukio said, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
“Yes Edward!” Armstrong butt in, striking a pose, “You should not talk to your elders that way! Shame on you!”  
“Who the heck are they?” Pinako asked in confusion.  
Yukio moved passed Edward. “Hello, ma’am. My name is Yukio Mustang, my brother and I are state alchemists that work with Edward,” He explained, taking her hand.  
She smiled. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said, “Hopefully your politeness will rub off on Ed.”  
“Hey!” Ed snapped, causing Rin to snicker, and subsequently cause Ed to punch Rin in the arm.  
Yukio chuckled. “I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said, “I’ve been stuck with Rin since birth and he’s still rude and blunt as ever.”  
“HEY!” Rin snapped. Now Ed was smirking at Rin. “I’m plenty polite!” he retorted.  
“Then get over there and introduce yourself,” Yukio said, dragging him over to her.  
Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Hey,” he said, “I’m Rin, the Spitfire Alchemist. I met your granddaughter a few years ago in Central.”  
Alex butted in. “Hello madame,” he said, “I am Major Alex Louis Armstrong! It is a pleasure to meet you!” she looked at him oddly for a moment before smiling and taking his hand.  
“So where is Winry?” Al asked.  
“Yeah, I’ve been interested to meet her,” Yukio said. All of a sudden, a wrench flew through the air and hit Ed in the head.  
“WHAT THE HELL?!” Rin cried, jumping back.  
“ED!” Yukio exclaimed, rushing to the fallen alchemist’s side, “Are you ok?!” He tried to force the boy’s eyes open to check for a concussion.  
Ed blinked for a second before sitting up angrily. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!” he shouted, everyone looked to the window of the house.  
There was a young, blonde girl standing outside the window. There was a frown on his face. “Edward, I thought I told you to call first when you're heading back here for maintenance!” she snapped.  
“He’s not going to be able to do that if you bash his head in!” Yukio snapped. Everyone was taken aback by this. “Don’t you realise how delicate the brain is?” he shouted at her, “Can’t you hit any other part of his body, at least?! The crown is the most fragile part of the skull! One wrong lump to it like that and he could lose his ability to read or worse, and there is no know way to completely repair the organ!” Everyone stared at Yukio.  
Winry blinked in surprise before suddenly feeling bad. She hadn’t even thought about that... She never wanted to hurt him that much. Then another thought came to mind. “Wait a minute, who are you?!” she questioned.  
….  
“So you’re Rin’s brother!” she said as she held her cup of tea, “It’s strange, he said you were his twin, but you act nothing alike!”  
Yukio smiled. “Yeah, my brother and I are like night and day sometimes,” he said before sipping some of his tea, “You have no idea how much we’ve butted heads. One time as kids, we fought over who was going to be ring bearer in our uncle’s wedding!”  
Winry giggled at that. Rin and the Elric brothers watched from the sidelines with an odd curiosity. “Wow, they’re really getting along,” Al said.  
“Yeah, you think they would have argued a bit more,” he said, “But, I guess that is Yukio for you. He was always better at keeping his cool. Plus they’re both nerds. They were bound to find common ground sooner or later.”   
As time passed and their conversation continued, Rin had lost interest and Edward became more impatient. Finally he spoke up. “Hey! You’ve got an automail client over here!”  
Winry sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine! If you’re so impatient!” she said getting up and walking over to him. She pulled up his sleeve and frowned. “Edward!” she cried as she examined it, “How the heck did you manage to get it like this?! It's completely jammed!” She slapped him on the back of the head. “Be more careful you doofus! Do not realise how hard I work on this stuff?!” she said.  
“You act like I’m actively trying to do this!” he exclaimed.  
“Well you at least seem like you’re passively trying to do it!” she snapped back, frightening Ed slightly, “Seriously, would it kill you to take care of what I worked so hard on for you?!”  
“Winry, please calm down!” Al said.  
“Yeah, it’s not his fault,” Rin added, “Some guy was attacking him and tried to blow up his arm!”  
Winry froze and slowly turned to Rin, a shocked and horrified look on her face. “WHAT?!” She shouted, “Why was someone trying to blow up his arm?!”  
Ed tried to get him to stop from saying anymore, but he didn’t notice his gestures. “Well, he was kind of after all of us,” he continued, “He had a grudge against state alchemists and had been hunting them down.”  
Ed slapped a hand to his forehead. “Hunting them down?!” she cried, “You mean someone was trying to kill you all?!”  
“It's ok, Winry!” Ed said, “We’re fine now and the guy is gone!”  
“It’s not ok!” she retorted,”You guys get into all sorts of horrible danger and you won’t even tell me what’s going on! If Rin hadn’t said anything, I wouldn't have found out, would I have? Why won’t you two tell me anything?!”  
Edward felt bad but continued to try and justify himself. “I’m sorry Winry, but I just didn’t want to worry you!” he tried to say.  
“Miss Rockbell,” Armstrong interjected, “I’m sure the boys didn’t mean you any harm by this. I’m sure all they wanted was to not upset you.”  
Winry nodded and seemed to calm down after that, though there was still some worry in her eyes as she completed her examination of his automail. “The damage should take a day to repair,” she said, “I’ll start work on it tomorrow morning.”  
“Tomorrow?!” Ed stammered, “But we need to get to Central as soon as-” But he cut himself off as he realised the major was still in the room.  
The man had apparently caught what he had said as he turned to look at Ed expectantly. “Oh?” Armstrong said, “And why are you not returning to East City?”  
“Yeah,” Rin interjected, “I thought you were coming back to East City with us.”  
“Well…” Ed started.  
“We just needed to checkout the library again,” Alphonse said, “We think Dr. Marcoh may have left research notes there.”  
“I see…” Armstrong said, “Then I think I’ll stay and head out with you!”   
Ed balked at the idea. “What?!” he said, “No! Don’t do that! We don’t need an escort! You need to get back to central as soon as possible, right?”  
“Nonsense!” Armstrong said, “I would enjoy spending a few days in the place where you were raised! The fresh air is good for the body after all!”  
“Hey, do you think we could tag along too?” Rin asked, but it was more directed at Yukio, “I mean we haven’t seen Elicia or Aunt Gracia in a while, especially you, and Dad’s probably not going to give me another mission for a few more days.”  
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” he said, “but you’re calling Dad to let him know.”  
….  
Scar didn’t understand what was going on.For some reason, after his battle with Shaitan, he was having some kinds of hallucinations. He could see these black...things floating around. He could feel them too, but no one else seemed to notice them, not even when they flew right in front of them. Were these a common sight in Amestris? Or were they even real at all? He hadn’t seen any before, but they seemed to be extremely plentiful underground.  
He leaned against the side of the brick wall only to immediately regret it. He was still nursing a small burn wound on his shoulder. Though only his jacket had been destroyed in the burst of blue flames, some places on his skin had received minor wounds as well. Was this some kind of curse that devil had put on him for trying to cross him? To see and feel things that weren’t really there? He wish he still had access to some of the Holy texts from the temples. Maybe they would have the answer…  
….  
Edward sighed as he lied down on the lawn, Den laying next to him. It was hot outside but he didn’t feel like getting up. He hated this feeling of restlessness. He wanted to keep moving on but Winry was still busy with his arm. His brow furrowed. He felt useless without it. Ed finally sighed and closed his eyes, deciding that taking a nap might help.  
“You’re gonna get a nasty sunburn if you just lie out in the middle of a field like that,” Ed’s eyes opened to see Rin sitting over him. Al wasn’t too far off.   
Ed frowned at him for a moment as he sat up. “Well what do you suggest instead?” he asked, “Winry kicked me out of her work space.” ‘Though she didn’t kick out Yukio…’ he thought bitterly. Granted, he had just been sitting in the corner quietly reading...but still it was unfair.  
“You could come on a hike with us!” Al suggested, “We were just about to head into the woods. You want to join us.”  
“Come on, man!” Rin said, grinning from ear to ear, “It’ll be fun!”  
Edward thought for a moment before shrugging. “Alright,” he said, “I guess that beats sitting around and doing nothing.” He then got up and headed after them.  
….  
“You know, it’s funny but I think this is the first time we’ve walked anywhere just for fun,” Al noted.  
“Yeah, the last couple ‘nature walks’ we’ve been on were to get to some odd village that was too far from the railroads to reach,” Ed added.  
“Liore was the worst though,” Rin said, “That desert just didn't seem to end!” “But this is beautiful. I kinda wish we had invited Yukio to join us too,” he said, “I think the last time we were on a hike together was when we all went on vacation together as a family when we were eight.”  
“Oh really?” Al said, “That's nice! We didn’t leave Risembool much when we were young. I think the first time we traveled really far was when we went to live with our alchemy teacher.”  
“That must have been quite a change for you,” Rin responded, “Yeah, to be honest, we didn’t travel much either when Yukio and I were really young. Our dad, as in, Shiro didn’t really a lot of money to spend. We did get to drive down to the beach a few times.”  
“What was that like?” Ed asked, “Living in Assiah?”  
Rin thought for a moment, deciding on what to tell him. “Well I lived in a big city,” he explained, “There were lots of buildings everywhere and the city was pretty crowded. But I liked it.”  
“Really?” Ed asked, “For some reason I expected you to have lived in some small village like us.”  
“No way,” Rin said, almost laughing at the idea of Tokyo being called a small village, “It was huge! There were so many cars and people that public transportations was pretty much a must! And the city never slept. So many lights were on at night that you couldn’t see any stars.”  
Ed and Al looked surprised. “Not even the north star?” Ed asked. Rin shook his head. All of a sudden, Rin slipped on the loose gravel gravel. He hissed as he grazed his elbow. A small trickle of blood flowed from it.  
“Hey, are you alright?” Al asked.  
Rin nodded and Ed helped him up. “Thanks man,” he said smiling. He frowned however as he heard a fluttering noise and smelled sulfur. Something touched his elbow and he looked down to spot a brown moth sitting on it.  
“Aw!” Al said, “Looks like you made a friend.”  
“Yeah I gue-” Rin started before he noticed that the moth was actually drinking the blood from the cut. “Hey!” he cried, “Cut it out!” He shooed it away. Ed and Al gave a look of confusion before five more showed up and started fluttering around Rin. Ed and Al chuckled as he tried to swat them away.  
“Calm down, Rin,” Ed said, “They’re just butterflies.”  
“They’re not just butterflies!” he snapped as even more showed up, “Stop laughing at me! They’re trying to eat me!”  
Al and Ed frowned. “How can a butterfly eat-OW!” Ed started, but was cut off by a needle like pain on his neck. He brought his one hand to it only to find one of the moths had decided to drink some of his blood. Ed’s eyes grew wide as more began to swarm around him.   
“Brother?” Al asked in concern, “What’s wrong?”  
“Rin’s right!” he growled, “these things are like mosquitoes.” Now there were almost twenty surrounding each of the two flesh and blood boys. “What the hell are these things?!” Ed demanded as he suffered a few more bites on his arm, “Where are they coming from?!”   
“I don’t know, but I am done with these things!” Rin growled, pulling his gloves on. He snapped his fingers and set a few on fire. The burnt up in mid air, turning into black smoke. Rin continued to snap until they were all gone.   
All three boys smiled in relief. “Well, I’m glad that’s over with,” Ed said, wiping some blood from the bite wounds, “That was just plain weird. Who ever heard of vampiric moths?”  
“Yeah,” Rin said, “Glad there aren’t any more of them.”  
“Come on,” Al said, “We should walk back and get those bites clean. I hope they weren’t carrying any diseases.” The other two nodded and they began to head back. They paused however as they heard a low rumble. They turned curiously to look behind them at what might be making that noise. They paled in horror as they saw a whole swarm of the moths headed straight for the.  
“On second thought,” Rin squeaked, “Let's run!” Ed and Al both nodded in agreement before they all hauled ass as fast as possible to get out of the forest.  
….  
Lust couldn’t believe her luck! When she first got this mission, she thought she’d have to send one of the chuchi after the boy in the night as he slept, and yet he had shown up, almost gift wrapped for her as he and the Elrics wandered through the forest.  
Though the trickle of blood from the half demon may have had some unforeseen consequences by making the insects go berserk, they surely had gotten the job done. She smirked as she watched the boys run away. That was enough trouble caused for one day, though. She didn’t need them draining the boys of all their blood. She pulled out the whistle she had been given for the mission and blew into it. From a distance she could see the moths stop and the swarm dispersed. Lust then strolled off back into the forest. All she had to do now was wait.  
….  
Yukio was startled as his twin and the elrics burst through the door. They were all panting as they pressed their backs to the door. “Ed? Al?” Winry asked, a worried look on her face, “What's wrong?!”  
“Uhh…” Ed said glancing out the window to see nothing there, “Nothing! Everything’s fine.”  
“Don’t lie to me, Edward!” Winry barked, “Now what happened?”  
“Yes boys!” Armstrong pressed, “Tell us what has made you become so pallor, so that we might vanquish this danger!”  
“Alright!” Ed snapped, “We were being chased...by mfffs.” His last few words were so quiet that they came out as nonsensical muttering.  
“What did you say?” Winry asked.  
“I said we were being chased by moths!” Ed said, blushing in embarrassment. Rin also looked down shamefully and Al scratched the back of his head awkwardly.   
“...Moths?!” Winry said, getting annoyed, “That’s what the fuss was about?!” Armstrong just looked confused by the situation.  
“They weren’t normal moths!” Rin defended, “They could bite and drank blood!” This caught Yukio’s attention. He remembered reading about moths like that before in the demonology book. But he had to be sure.  
“Vampire moths? There’s no such thing!” Winry retorted.  
“It’s true though!” Al said, “They swarmed brother and Rin after Rin cut his elbow.”  
“Yeah! We’re being honest!” Rin said.  
“I believe you,” Yukio interjected, gaining everyone’s attention.   
“You do?” Ed said.  
“Yes, I’ve seen something like this before in Xing,” Yukio lied, “But I must be sure about this. Did either of you notice any strange smells while around them?”  
“No…” Edward said, giving Yukio an odd look.  
“I did!” Rin said, “It smelled like sulfur.” Yukio frowned and nodded. It appeared his suspicion was correct.  
“I think I know what we’re dealing with here,” he said, “Chuchi. A species of moth that likes to drink blood.” “And since I am correct, I need to treat you two for their bites right away!” he said before grabbing both Rin and Ed and tugging them away.  
….  
“Hold still!” Yukio said as he swabbed the back of Ed’s neck with a washcloth dipped in holy water.  
“It’s cold!” he retorted, “It's a natural reaction to flinch!”   
Winry looked at what Yukio was doing in confusion. “Why are you disinfecting his neck?” she questioned, “I don’t see any bites…”  
“I’m not disinfecting it,” Yukio explained.  
“What?!” Ed cried, “Then stop touching it! Its weird!”  
“No! I have to swab any part of your skin that was exposed to them,” he said before forcing Ed to turn his head. “I have to make sure they didn’t implant any eggs in your skin,” he explained.  
Ed, Winry, and Al all blanched. The only reason why Rin hadn’t was because he remembered the entry on them after Yukio had mentioned the name. “They WHAT?!” Ed cried, “WHY?! Why would they do that?!”  
“I agree!” Winry said, “that sounds like something from a nightmare!”  
“They do it so their eggs incubate properly,” he half lied, “This can cause some serious problems including infection, and depending on where they were planted, nerve damage.”  
“Nerve damaged?!” All three exclaimed.   
“GET THEM OUT OF ME!!” Ed cried, “I’M NOT GOING TO LET SOME BUGS DESTROY MY BODY!”  
“Brother’s going to be alright, right?” Al asked.  
“He will if he sits still,” Yukio interjected, “This poison swab should destroy any eggs that have been embedded into his skin.” The Elrics and Winry relaxed after that, and Yukio finished up the swab, even giving a once over to the part in Ed’s hair for good measure. Luckily, he had found nothing. “Congratulations, Ed you are moth free,” he said, allowing the boy to get up.  
“Rin, you’re next!” he called his brother over. Rin sat down in the chair and performed the same thing for Rin. “This is kinda scary though,” Winry admitted, “I mean those things are living only a few fields away from our house!”  
“Yeah, what if they attack some little kid?” Alphonse asked.  
“Well usually, they aren’t this bad,” Yukio tried to assure, “They’re mostly nocturnal and don’t usually swarm as much as with you. You must have walked into a nest of them and excited them with the smell of blood.”  
“Still I think I’m going to keep my nature walks to fields and valleys around here,” Ed noted.  
“Well, I don’t exactly blame you,” Yukio said as he finished up with Rin by swabbing the back of his neck. As he did so, a small, almost unnoticeable line of black smoke emerged. Yukio frowned at this. Look like it was a good thing he had been here with Rin. “You’re clean,” he said, allowing Rin to stand up.  
“Thanks little bro!” he said stretching.  
“I guess we need to find something else to do now,” Al said.  
“Yeah…” Rin scratched his chin in thought, “Oh, I know! Do any of you guys know how to play Rummy?”  
….  
Later that evening, Yukio headed down to Winry’s workshop. It was getting late, and he wanted to make sure she actually went to bed. “Winry?” he called, “I know you’re busy with Ed’s automail, but-” He found her asleep on the bench. He smiled slightly and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
She roused from her sleep, blinking her eyes blearily. “What? What time is it?” she asked.   
“Almost eleven,” he said, “I think you should finish that tomorrow.”  
“No, It’s already done,” she said, “I was just giving it a once over before I gave it to him tomorrow.”  
Yukio smiled. “You really care for him, don’t you?” he said.  
She smiled and looked down at the automail fondly. “Yeah…” she said, before sighing, “I just wish he wasn’t such an idiot. I worry about him so much! He doesn’t call or write to tell me anything, and I barely see him! I think this is only the fourth time I’ve seen him in the last four years…”  
Yukio gave her a sympathetic look. “I know how you feel,” he said, “Although they wrote and called, it was difficult being so far away from Rin and Dad. I missed them a lot and I was always worried about Rin and what kind of trouble he would get into.”  
She turned to him and smiled. “I guess it’s a small world, then,” she said before getting up, “Thanks for the chat. I suppose I really should be getting to bed. Goodnight!”   
Yukio nodded to her as she left before frowning and getting up. He walked out onto the porch and sat on the steps. He pulled a spell tag he had prepared earlier that day, and placed it underneath the steps. He continued to place a few more around the house in different locations until all eight were up. “There,” he said to himself, “That should keep any unwanted guests out.” Yukio wasn’t sure why there were so many demons out here, if that swarm was anything to go by, but he wasn’t going to let them hurt his brother, or anyone else he was close to.


	8. Fortune's fool

“See ya, Winry!” Ed called as they were about to get on the train. Al and Rin waved.  
“It was a pleasure to meet you!” Yukio added.  
“Indeed!” Armstrong said, “Your home was most hospitable! I hope to be able to be invited again!”  
Winry smiled at this. “Make sure to call and write ok?” she said, “If I don’t see a letter or get a call in the next five days…”  
“Don’t worry!” Yukio said placing a hand on Ed’s head, “I’ll make sure this one get around to it!” Edward growled at him before they finished their goodbyes and headed off. Lust watched from the sidelines, a look of deep annoyance on her face. Why hadn’t the chuchi worked? Rin should have come stumbling into the forest last night where she had been waiting to capture him…. How did the plan fail? Did they not infect the boy? Or did they have some way of knowing what would happen? The last idea made her furrow her brow. She glared at them as the boarded the train before slinking away.  
Meanwhile on the train, the small group was blissfully unaware of her ever being there. Rin watched the countryside roll by with a smile. “I can’t wait to get to Central,” he said, “It’s been awhile since I’ve been there. I wonder if the cafe near Burnham library is still there.”  
“You can go figure that out while Al and I head to the National Library,” Ed responded, “If even some of Marcoh’s notes are there, I want to find them as soon as possible.”  
“Oh relax!” Rin said, “You can wait a little while before going to find those notes. It’s just a book after all. It’s not like they’re going anywhere. What's the worst that could happen if you take a little break?”  
…..  
“...Remind me to never let you say anything ever again,” Yukio said as his brother stared dumbly at the ashy remains of the library wing where the notes just so happened to be housed. They had been standing there for almost ten minutes straight after Lieutenant Ross and Sgt. Brosh had brought them there. Apparently, there had been a fire the previous night. No one knew who started it.  
“I’m so sorry boys,” Ross said, but they were too shocked to respond.  
Edward was kneeling in front of it, still in shock. “It’s gone! It’s all gone!” he whispered. He then growled and pounded a fist against the ground. “Damn it!” he shouted, “That was our only lead! We’re going to have to start all over again….”  
“Brother…it’s going to be alright. I’m sure we’ll be fine!” Al said, placing a comforting hand on Ed’s back. He sighed. “If only there was another copy somewhere…” he said.  
“A computer storage system would have been wonderful to have right now,” Yukio muttered only loud enough for his brother to hear.  
That gave Rin an idea. “Hey wait!” he said, “What about Sheska?”  
Al and Ed turned to him in confusion while a look of realisation dawned on Yukio’s face. “You’re right! She might be able to help!” he replied.  
“Who is Sheska?” Al asked.  
“She’s this girl who works at the library!” Rin explained, “She’s got a wicked amazing memory. She can recite a book word for word front to cover without even hesitating if she’s read it even once.”  
“It’s true!” Yukio said, “She helped me find a book on bio alchemy once and started talking about it. By the time we found it, I didn’t need the book anymore because she had recited the whole thing to me.”  
Ed and Al looked amazed. “You’re serious?” Al asked. Both boys nodded.  
Edward jumped up, a renewed fire in his eyes. “Then what are we waiting for! Let’s go find her!”  
“I’ll go get Denny and we’ll start the cars,” Ross said.  
….  
While the boys were surprised she had been fired from her job at the library, they were unsurprised that Sheska had not only horded stacks upon stacks of books in her home, but had managed to bury herself in them.  
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she cried after they dug her out, “I was worried  
“It would certainly have been an ironic end wouldn’t it,” Yukio joked. Sheska laughed despite herself.  
“So what can I do for you?” she asked.  
“We were wondering if you ever read any books by Tim Marcoh,” Edward asked, “While you worked at the national library, I mean.”  
“Tim Marcoh….” she said, tapping her chin with her finger, “I think I have...yeah he was in the restricted government files section.”  
The boys blinked in surprise. “You read the restricted section?” al questioned, “But you aren’t even a government official!”  
Sheska laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I ran out of regular things to read in the library, so I started reading the government files,” she explained, “Got through all of them actually.”  
Yukio facepalmed. “No wonder she was fired,” Rin muttered.  
“Yeah but why she wasn’t thrown in jail is a mystery to me…” Yukio responded.  
“Actually, I got fired because I was too busy reading to do my work!” she continued, “No one actually knows about me reading the restricted section...you wouldn’t mind not telling anyone, right?” She looked to Lieutenant Ross behind them and the woman sighed but smiled anyways.  
“I won’t,” she said, “But don’t expect me to vouch for you if you get caught.” Sheska smiled and nodded.  
“Thank you!” she said before frowning, “But now, I don’t have a job. I have no idea how I’m going to take care of myself, let alone my mother...She’s been pretty sick, and I don’t have any money to send to her…”  
“Tell you what,” Ed said, sticking a finger in the air, “If you can make us a copy of Tim Marcoh’s book, we’ll get you a job.”  
Sheska looked at him in surprise. “You really mean it?!” She exclaimed, clasping her hands together. Ed nodded. “Oh thank you!” she said, shaking his hand, “I’ll get started on that right away, ok?” With that she dashed off to her typewriter.  
“This will probably take her awhile,” Ross said, “You should probably get to your hotel room for now.”  
“Alright,” Rin said with a shrug.  
….  
A few days later….  
“Hey Sheska!” Rin called as they entered the room, “We got lunch! Hope you like Italian.”  
“Rin, I’ve told you a hundred times, it's ‘Parmese’!” Ed snapped.  
Yukio sighed. “Not this again…” he muttered.  
“And I told you that's not what I’m calling it,”he responded.  
Ed rolled his eyes and huffed. “Why can’t you just use normal words?” he questioned.  
“I’ll use whatever words I like!” Rin responded childishly.  
“Boys, I don’t think this is worth arguing over,” Ross said.  
“Yeah, can’t you guys just agree to disagree?” Brosh added.  
“I’m done!” Sheska called from inside the room. They blinked in surprise and walked in more to a huge stack of stapled papers on the desk.  
“Really?” Al exclaimed, “You did all this?”  
“Uh huh!” she said with a smile.  
“Way to go Sheska!” Rin exclaimed.  
“Wait a minute…” Ed said, grabbing the title page, “‘Tim Marcoh's One Thousand Recipes for Making Magic in the Kitchen’? This is just a cookbook!”  
Rin, Yukio an Al all looked deflated. “Aw man, are you serious?!” Rin cried, throwing his hands into the air. Before sinking into the seat.  
“One tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper…” Ross read, “Nothing too magical about this recipe.  
Ed then turned to Sheska. “Are you sure this is the only book by a Tim Marcoh in the library?” he asked.  
“I’m sorry, but that’s the only one…” Sheska said, looking down. Ed huffed and stared at the page in his hand.  
“Looks like it was all for not…” Brosh said sadly.  
“Wait a minute…” Yukio said, “What if it isn’t a cookbook?”  
“What are you talking about?” Rin questioned, “How is it not a cook book? What else could it be?”  
“Alchemy notes,” he said with a smile. Rin’s eyes widened before he realised what Ed meant. The notes were just encrypted! “So are you sure this is all word for word?” Ed asked.  
“Positive!” Sheska said.  
Ed smiled at that. “Sheska, you really are an amazing talent,” He said before pulling out a checkbook and writing on it before tearing something off and handing it to her, “You'll see a figure there.Go to the State Alchemist Treasury and have them take that amount out of my research budget.” Sheska and Brosh looked at the piece of paper before gawking. Before they could say anything the boys started picking up the papers and heading out the door.  
“Sgt, Lieutenant, do you think you could help us out with this?” Yukio called over his shoulder. The two nodded before helping to carry out the remaining stacks.  
“Seriously though…” Brosh whispered to Ross, “Why is Ed willing to pay that much for a cookbook? He said they were alchemy notes but...” The lieutenant shrugged in response.  
“Well, I guess in a way cooking is like alchemy…” she said, “Equivalent exchange still applies right? You can make a cake without flour after all.”  
….  
Ed and Al set up shop in their hotel room, the papers all stacked carefully on the coffee table. Suddenly the door opened. As Yukio and Maria stepped in. “Alright,” Maria said, “We got all the reference books you ask for from the library.”  
“And we got the snacks!” Rin exclaimed as he and Denny stepped through the door with soda and junk food.  
Yukio sighed. “Is all that really necessary, Rin?” he asked, “We really shouldn’t have all this in here. We could mess up the notes or the library books by getting grease or pop all over them!”  
“Of course it is! We can’t just miss out on eating, and I doubt Ed’s going to take a break to head down for dinner,” Rin said before grinning smugly, “Besides...I got your favorite!” He held up a bag of caramel coated popcorn mixed with German (or in this case Amestrian) roasted almonds, toffee, and chocolate coated pretzels. “Come on,” Rin said, shaking the bag at him enticingly, “I know you can’t say no to this, particularly after having been without for so long!”  
Yukio narrowed his eyes at his brother before swiping the bag from him and promptly opening it. He continued to glare as he pulled a handful out and started munching on it. “Fine,” he grumbled, turning away, “Just remember to be careful with that stuff…”  
Rin smiled victoriously before sitting down and pulling out a box of buttery crackers, a bag of chips, and some cream cheese and onion dip and starting his own snacking. Lieutenant Ross glanced over all the papers. “So what exactly is this?” she asked, “You said they were alchemy notes, but they look just like recipies…”  
“That’s because they’re encoded,” Ed said.  
“Yeah,” Al said, “Every alchemist encodes their notes so others can’t steal them.”  
“Really?” Brosh asked before turning to Rin and Yukio, “Do you guys do that too?”  
“Yup,” Rin said.  
“Yeah, and surprisingly they both do it really well,” Ed said, “Rin’s notes look like some kind of made up language, and Yukio uses some kind of number system that’s impossible to break down.” If Rin was being honest, he really wasn’t encoding his at all. He just wrote it all in Japanese characters. It’s funny. They all speak the same language, but in Amestris they only use the English alphabet a write every word out in letters. They didn’t use Kanji or Hiragana or any of those systems. Yukio mentioned Xing used Kanji, but someone from xing still wouldn't be able to read his notes as he sometimes switched between systems. Though he supposed if no one in the world besides you could read it, it counted as encoded.  
Yukio was the one who actually encoded his writings, but it was actually pretty simple and easy break down once you knew it. Every word was replaced by a reference number to find the actual word from a separate text, in this case, mostly the bible (which there are only three copies of in the entire universe). The system as Yukio explained it to Rin went name of the book in the bible, the chapter number, the verse number, and then the placement number of the word in the verse. Any other word he needs that he can’t find in the bible he quotes as dictionary number entry or if it’s an element, by its periodic table number. Really Rin couldn’t understand how Yukio could keep up with his own system sometimes.  
“So you just need to crack the code and you’ll be able to find what you need?” Brosh said, “How are you going to do that?”  
Ed shrugged. “Every code is different, but we’ll figure it out eventually,” he said.  
“Yeah, and with all four of us working on it, we’ll be sure to figure it out sooner or later!” Rin said.  
“Well alright then,” Ross said with a smile, “If you all need anything, let us know. We’ll be right outside the door.”  
“Thank you!” Al chimed. With that the two army officers left.  
“Alright!” Rin said, clapping his hands together before reaching for some papers. He sat back in his armchair as he began to flip through them.  
(Several hours later….)  
Rin was limp in his chair, snoring softly with a book on his face. He had fallen asleep sometime after the first two hours of code breaking and they just decided to leave him that way. However, he would stay that way for much longer.  
“DAMN IT!” Ed shouted, smashing a cup. Rin abruptly sat up and looked around wildly.  
“Wha? What happened?!” he looked around to all of their faces, only to see them as a mix of pain, despair, and horror. Ed was cradling his head in his hands and Al was looking away from the papers which were now scattered on the floor. Yukio sat in his chair with his hands folded in front of his face, brows knit together. “Is something wrong?”  
“That’s an understatement…” Ed hissed, “This truly is the devil’s work!”  
Rin looked confused. “What, do you mean that you weren’t able to crack it?” he asked.  
“Oh, we were able to crack it…” Yukio spat.  
“The note contained the information on how to make a philosopher's stone…” Al clarified, his voice hollow and distant.  
Rin blinked. “That’s good right?” Rin asked.  
“No it’s not!” Ed snapped, “It’s terrible! How could anyone…” he trailed off looking sick.  
Rin was starting to get frustrated. “Will someone tell me what the problem is?” he asked.  
Ed looked Rin dead in eye as he spoke. “The key ingredient to making a philosopher's stone…” he bit out, “Is human souls!” Rin’s eyes widened in horror at that.  
…  
Roy smiled to himself as as he finished fixing his hair in the mirror. While it was a bit lonely not having Rin and Yukio around, there was an upside to it: He could go on dates, go out drinking with the guys, or see movies/plays alone whenever he liked without worrying about being home in time to check in on them and make sure things were alright. They were very self reliant, but he didn’t like the idea of them going the evening without seeing him at least once when he was around to be able to do so.  
Now, however, he didn’t have to worry about that. And with that thought, he went over to his closet to pick out a suit jacket. However, as he opened the closet, he noticed something was wrong. There was a strange perfume in the air. Roy frowned. No one had been in the house except for Rin, Yukio, and himself, especially not a woman. His eyes then widened with realisation: someone had broken into the house.  
He knelt down and began sifting through everything in the closet, double checking and triple checking everything to make sure it all was. To his horror, everything was there...except the case containing Kurikara.


	9. So Foul and Fair a Day

The boys sat for hours on the room, unmoving. None of them ate anything, not even Rin. They felt too sick to eat. Rin hugged his shoulders and glared at the floor from his place in the arm chair. How could anyone do something like this? To use human lives...in mass numbers…. The thought made him so angry.  
Ed was lying on the couch and Al was looking at him with a worried expression. Yukio had left. He said he was going to take a walk to clear his head about thirty minutes ago. Rin kinda wished he went with him. He was feeling pretty awful for Edward and Alphonse. All their research had been for nothing it seemed. Rin sighed. He didn’t know if this day could get any worse.  
All of a sudden the phone began to ring. Rin stared at it for a moment before going to pick it up. “Hello?” he asked dully.  
“Hello, is this a Major Rin Mustang or Yukio Mustang?” the perky receptionist asked.  
“Yeah, this is Rin, why?”  
“I have a call from Colonel Roy Mustang to transfer to you,” she explained, “Hold on for a minute.” Rin was somewhat glad his Dad was calling. Maybe he could lift his spirits…  
“Hello?” Roy’s voice sounded tense.  
“Hey Dad. It’s me,” Rin answered, “What’s up?”  
“Rin, you need to head back home as soon as possible,” Roy stated urgently.  
The teen blinked in confusion. “What? Why?” he asked, “Is something wrong?”  
“The Koma sword is gone,” he said darkly.  
Rin froze, feeling a chill run down his spine. “What?!” he practically cried. This caught the attention of the Elrics. They looked up at him in worry. “How did this happen?!” Rin demanded.  
“I don’t know,” Roy admitted, “Someone must have broken into our house at some point. I don’t think it’s been opened yet, but it’s only a matter of time before someone does. That’s why you need to come home right away. We don’t know when it might happen and I don’t want you out in public at the time.”  
“Ok…” Rin said, biting his lip, “Is there anyway we can get it back?” Rin asked.  
“I’ll search the black market soon to see if anyone is trying to sell it,” he said, “But I’m afraid that’s all I can do for now. I’m sorry if this was a bad time for you to hear this, but you need to get home as soon as possible, alright?”  
“I understand,” Rin said sadly, “Thanks for letting me know…”  
“You’re welcome,” Roy said, “Now be safe.”  
“I will,” he replied before hanging up.  
“What was that?” Ed asked.  
“Yeah, is everything alright?” Al asked.  
“It’s nothing…” Rin said trying to hide his emotion, “We just found out a heirloom from Shiro had been stolen from the house.”   
Ed’s eyes widened for a second before glaring at the ground. “Well isn’t today just GREAT!” Ed hissed, “God just loves kicking us in the teeth today!”  
“I’m so sorry to hear that…” Al said quietly, “You must feel awful.”  
Rin gave an affirmative huff. “I think I’m going to go sit outside on the porch for a little while,” he said with a sigh, “I need to be alone…” He reached for the door and unlocked it, only to be sent flying back as Alex Louis Armstrong barreled into the room.  
“ELRIC BROTHERS! YOUNG MUSTANG!” Alex cried.  
Brosh and Maria peaked out from behind him. “We’re sorry!” Ross squeaked, “We tried to stop him, but we couldn’t…”  
“Armstrong, what the heck are you doing here?!” Rin snapped, sitting up and glaring at him.  
“I know what the notes said!” He announced. Realization dawned on the three boys and they glared at the lieutenant and the sergeant.  
“You told him?!” Ed hissed.  
“We’re sorry! He’s just so intimidating!” Brosh admitted. Both looked down shamefully.  
“HOW TRAGIC!” Alex wailed, tears streaming down his face,”To think the philosopher’s stone is based on such a terrible secret! Imagine the military being behind that...Often the truth is more terrible than we believe!”  
Rin growled. “We don’t need your ‘comfort’ right now, Alex,” Rin hiss, “Now will you just-”  
“Wait a minute,” Ed said, a look of dawning realisation on his face, “The truth, the truth behind the truth…”  
“What is it brother?” Al asked.  
“Remember what Dr. Marcoh said at the station?” he said, “He said to look for the truth behind the truth...This is just like alchemic notes. There’s more to see here than we think.” A look of determination crossed his face. “We have to look deeper,” he concluded.  
...  
Yukio walked aimlessly along the street, feeling he was at a loss for words. Although he hadn’t been with them throughout their journey, he couldn’t help but feel awful. All of the boys’ hard work had just gone up in flames. And to find out the truth of the matter was…that...Well, Yukio thought it would have been easier to accept that it was just plain impossible.   
Yukio turned the corner and sat down on a bench. What were they going to do now? Yukio couldn’t think of anything at the moment. Maybe if they all went back to Xing they might find something. After all, he had only been there for a few years, and that certainly wasn’t enough to learn everything. He had heard rumors of certain alkahestrists that could create small things like toes and fingers to replace lost ones, but those were only rumors. To be honest, it might not even be worth it to return. After all. No one in Xing had even heard of philosopher’s stones or anything similar. The closest he had heard were stories of immortality. Still, there had to be something...  
“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise!” Yukio turned to see a man in a white suit and top hat with a pink umbrella. His hair was purple, and both his teeth and ears were pointed.   
“Mephisto?” the boy asked.  
“In the flesh!” he said tipping his hat, “I haven’t seen you in a long time, Yukio. My how you’ve grown!”   
Yukio didn’t know how to feel about seeing him. He was both kind of happy to see a familiar face and nervous, as he didn’t know what the demon wanted. “Mephisto what are you doing here?” he asked.  
The demon took off his hat and pulled out a sack. It was filled with bottles of holy water. “Dropping these off,” he explained, “Though I thought I’d stop in Central first to see if I can find that place that sells ‘mouse’s blush’ again. That stuff was rather good. I hope they still make it.” “But anyways, I suppose you’ve saved me the trip I’ve had to make to East City to get this to your father,” he said handing it to the boy, “I guess that means I’ll be off then. Ta-ta!”   
Mephisto turned on his heel to leave. Yukio watched him go until a thought popped him his head. “Mephisto wait!” he called, causing the demon to turn and look at him with a crooked eyebrow. “...Can I ask you for some help?” Yukio said.  
“You can ask,” he said, “but that doesn’t guarantee I’m actually going to help you.”  
Yukio frowned but continued anyways. “Alright,” he said, “It’s just I have these friends. They’re trying to get their bodies back to normal. One of them is a soul attached to a suit of armor and--”  
“Sorry, but no. I’m not the blue fairy, kid,” Mephisto cut him off, “I can’t just make a body out of nowhere or grant wishes. That sort of thing isn’t my territory, not that I would have done something like that for free anyways. If he wants to be a real boy so badly, he’s going to have to look elsewhere.”  
Yukio frowned. “I wasn’t going to ask for you to make him a new body,” he said, “I was going to ask if you had any ideas as to where I could look for information on how to get their bodies back without a philosopher's stone or equivalent exchange. You seem to be the expert on bypassing that.”  
“Hmmm….,” Mephisto said, tapping his chin, “Nope! Haven’t the foggiest!” He then turned to leave again. Yukio sighed and sat down again. Looks like he was back to square one… “On second though…” Mephisto said, “There might be something from Assiah that I know of like that...I’ve been meaning to get rid it anyways…” “But I don’t think you’ll want it,” he said.  
“Does it cost human lives to perform?” Yukio questioned.  
“No…” Mephisto said carefully with a frown, “but it is still considered a taboo.”   
Yukio frowned. That definitely didn’t make him feel better, but Ed and Al had already committed one taboo. “Can I have the information on it?” he asked, “So I can at least know what the process is?”  
“Hmmmm….” The demon king considered, “You know, I really shouldn’t be handing out this information to children...but I do need to get rid of it before anyone decides to use it against me…Plus….” He then smiled. “Alright, I’ll cut you a deal,” he said, “I will give you the research notes on the subject, but I require a favor in return.”  
Yukio paused, weighing his options. It didn’t really look like Ed and Al had any other options at the moment. “Ok, what do you want from me?” Yukio said.  
The demon laughed. “From you?!” he said, “I don’t want anything from you.”  
Yukio raised an eyebrow. “But I thought you said you wanted a favor!” he said.  
“Yes but not from you,” Mephisto said with a grin, “I know this is for the benefit of Elric brothers in the end, so I want a favor from one of them.” Yukio stared at Mephisto, analyzing his expression.  
While he would be willing to do whatever the man before him wanted(within reason of course), he didn’t know if Ed and Al would be willing to do the same for this. He certainly didn’t want to make them, especially if it turns out to be a bust. “What exactly would this favor be?” Yukio asked.  
Mephisto shrugged. “Haven’t decided yet,” he said, “It’s more of an IOU really.”   
“I’m not going to decide for either of them,” Yukio said.  
“You don’t have to,” Mephisto answered, “In fact, I’d rather have them make the promise.”  
….  
“What about this place?” Ed asked, pointing at the map.  
“That’s the fifth laboratory,” Armstrong said, “But that place has been shut down for years.”  
All of a sudden the phone rang again. “I’ll get it,” Rin said with a sigh as he got up. He walked over to the rotary phone and picked up the receiver. “Hello?” he answered.  
“Rin? Is that you?” Yukio’s voice sounded from the other end of the line, “How are things going?”  
Rin smiled slightly. “Hey Yukio,” he said, “Things aren’t very good right now. Ed and Al are trying to figure out if there’s any other process to making philosopher's stones or something, but so far they’re just grasping at straws...We could really use some good news right now.”  
“Well, you’re in luck,” his brother responded, “I might have some.” Rin raised an eyebrow at this. “I ran into Mephisto,” Yukio said, “And he might have a way to get Ed and Al back to normal without human transmutation.”  
Rin gasped and his eyes widened. “No way!” he exclaimed, “You’re serious?!”   
This outburst caught the everyone’s attention. “Rin?” Al asked, “Is everything alright?”  
“Yeah, did something come up about that stolen heirloom?” Ed asked. Rin held up a finger, as he listened to his brother.  
“Yes. It’s a process from Assiah,” he explained, “It might be dangerous, but Mephisto is willing to make a deal...but I’ll need you to get Ed or Al on the line first.”  
“Got it,” Rin said, starting to smile. He then turned to the Elric brothers. “Ed, get over here!” he said, “Yukio needs to talk with you. It's important!”  
Ed looked confused before getting up and walking over to the phone. “Yukio, what is it?” he asked.  
“I may have a solution to our problem,” he explained.  
Edward blinked in surprise. Did...he really mean that? Edward clutched to phone as hard as he could. “Are you sure?” he said.  
“Not entirely, no,” Yukio admitted, “It might be too dangerous, but I think we should at least explore this option.”  
“What is it then?” He said, “Have you found a way to make a stone without human souls?”  
“No,” he said, “But I have found a way to possibly forgo equivalent exchange.” Ed’s eyes widened.  
“That’s impossible,” he growled, “You can’t just forgo equivalent exchange! It’s the basis of Alchemy! Even with the stone, you always needed the stone itself to create something!”  
“This isn’t alchemy, Ed,” Yukio simply said. Edward froze, scrunching his brow together in confusion. If it wasn’t alchemy, then what was it? “This is something completely different from Assiah,” he explained, “I ran into a friend of Shiro’s named Mephisto. He was the man who brought Rin and I to Amestris. He apparently has experience dealing with this kind of thing. I don’t think you should give up on what you two are working on currently, but I think this is worth looking into as well. But before he gives me anything, he wants to speak with you.”  
Ed nodded but couldn’t help but feel suspicious. This man just shows up out of nowhere, and suggests something that shouldn’t even be possible. And with the way Yukio was talking about it, it might not be. “Are you sure he can be trusted?” Ed said.  
“We’ve already had to trust him with our lives once,” Yukio said, “I think he is being honest.”  
Ed paused again before nodding. “Alright,” he said, “Put him on the line.”  
There was a muffled noise as the phone was handed over. “Hello Edward!” a deeper voice rang through the line, “It’s a pleasure to finally speak with you. My name is Sir Mephisto Pheles.”  
“Uh huh….” he responded, “So why is it you want to speak with me?”  
“While I fully intend on giving you the information you desire, I require a favor in return,” the man on the other end said, “And I’d rather ask it of you.”  
“And why is that?” Ed said, narrowing his eyes, “What kind of favor are you asking for?”  
“Haven’t decided yet,” Mephisto said with a shrug, “I’ll get back to you when I need you.”  
Ed scowled. “That’s not a good answer,” Ed responded harshly, “I want to know what I’m getting into!”  
“Oh, relax child!” the demon king responded, “I’m not a crossroads demon. It’s not like I’m asking you to sell your soul to me.”   
“There are other things besides slavery I’m worried about,” he said.  
“My, you’re paranoid! But don’t worry. I won’t make you take some blame for something for me or do anything too immoral,” Mephisto said, “If I needed a scapegoat or wanted someone dead, I have better options. To be honest, this favor will be more of an inconvenience than anything else. So do we have a deal?”  
“...Are you sure it works?” Ed said.  
“I’ve seen it work with my own eyes,” Mephisto said seriously, “After all, I was the one who oversaw the research.”  
“Fine,” Edward said, “I agree to your deal.” Edward could practically feel the man on the other end smiling.  
“Splendid!” he said, “It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Elric.”   
“Hm,” was the only response Ed gave. He felt a renewed hope, but something still made him not trust the man.   
“Hey,” Rin spoke up, “If you’re done, can you ask him to put Yukio back on the phone? I need to talk to him.”  
“Alright,” Ed said, before turning back to the phone, “Do you mind putting Yukio back on the line?”  
“Very well,” he said. The was another muffled sound as The phone was handed over.  
“Here,” Ed said handing off the phone.  
“Yukio,” Rin said, “there’s something important I need to tell you.”  
“Rin what is it?” his brother responded.  
“I...got a call from Dad earlier,” Rin said quietly, “Someone broke into our house. They stole the Koma sword.”  
Yukio’s eyes widened and his heart stopped. “W-what?!” he breathed.  
“You heard me,” Rin said in a low voice, “It’s gone.”  
“When did this happen?!” he demanded, “Rin are you alright?”  
“I’m fine for now,” Rin assured quietly, “We don’t know when it happened. Dad’s starting to look into it. He’s planning on scoping out the black market to look for it...but as of tomorrow I’m going to have to head home. Do you think you can stay to help Ed and Al if they need it?”  
“I’d rather be helping look for the sword,” Yukio said, “We can’t let it be opened or fall into the wrong hands.”  
“Hold on a minute…” Mephisto said, “Are you saying you lost Kurikara?” All joking was gone from his face. Instead had a serious and annoyed frown. “How do you lose a sword?” he asked, “Please don’t tell me the humans here are that incompetent…”  
“We didn’t lose it,” Yukio said frowning, “It was stolen. Someone robbed our house.”   
Mephisto rolled his eyes at that. “Sure it was…” he said.  
“We’re being honest! It was stolen!” Yukio said before blinking, “Wait a minute...Can you summon it for us? You can make other objects appear….”  
Mephisto looked at him in annoyance. “First of all, I can only summon objects that I know the location of,” the demon king said, “Secondly, I know for a fact it couldn’t have been stolen from your house. If Kuro’s still guarding it, than no one should have been able to get in period.” Then a look of realisation dawned on his face. “Unless…” The demon king said stroking his chin, “The whole goal was to steal the sword in the first place...then someone might have planned for Kuro.”  
“That’s impossible!” Yukio said, “No one knows about the sword!”  
“Know one you know of does…” Mephisto said gravely, “But there is a bright side to this. If they knew about the sword and didn’t open it immediately, that means that they probably aren’t going to.”   
Yukio breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you hear that Rin?” He asked his brother.  
“Yeah, I heard,”  
“...but that also means they might be planning something against Rin,” Mephisto continued, “I think it would be in your best interest to keep him guarded for now.” Yukio nodded. “Now,” Mephisto said clapping his hands together, “Let’s go get that information you wanted.”  
“Alright,” he said before turning back to the receiver, “Goodbye, Rin. Make sure you keep yourself safe. Stay at the hotel room tonight.”  
“You got it!” Rin chirped. With that, Yukio hung up.   
The spectacled twin turned towards the Demon King. “So are you going to tell me or show me?” he asked.  
“Show,” Mephisto said, “All the information is back in Assiah. Follow me.” Yukio followed him down the street to an abandoned factory. Mephisto pulled out a key before unlocking the door. White light streamed out as it opened. They both stepped inside and closed the door behind them, returning the door to normal.  
Pride started at the door. He tried to reach his shadows passed it, but found only emptiness in the room on the other side. No white light, no gate, no nothing. Not even the people that had just entered through that door. The homunculus growled. How did he do that?! Still he supposed it didn’t matter. After all, he had just found out some interesting information: that demon knew how to do something akin to human transmutation without equivalent exchange or alchemy…how interesting.  
….  
He knew his brother had told him to stay where he was. He knew his dad had told him to stay where he was. He knew Denny, Maria, and Alex had told him to stay where he was...but Rin being Rin, he wasn’t about to listen. He couldn’t just let Ed and Al go to an abandoned laboratory all on their own. And so that’s why he was currently scaling down the wall of the hotel building with a rope made from the sheets.  
“While I think it would have been easier to just use alchemy and turn the sheet into a real rope…” Ed said as Rin neared the ground, “ That was pretty impressive. When did you figure out how to do that?”  
Rin blinked, remembering when he ran away as a kid after nearly setting his and Yukio’s room on fire. “Uh...I just got bored one day as a kid,” he said, laughing nervously. Ed gave him a look that he wasn’t buying it. Rin sighed. “Ok, I may have set my room on fire and tried to run away from home,” he muttered.  
“Why am I not surprised,” Ed sighed.  
Rin glared at him. “Can we just go already?” He grumbled.   
“Come on,” Ed said, “It’s this way.” With that they headed off.


	10. Through the fog and filthy air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!: this chapter contains slightly disturbing imagery.

Crickets chirped outside of lab 5. Rin, Al, and Ed peaked around the corner to see a man standing guard. “Huh, they have a guard posted at an unused facility…” Ed said, narrowing his eyes, “How interesting….”  
"Shows just how unused this place is," Rin muttered, "So what are we going to do? Knock his lights out out? i don't see any other entrances..."  
Ed raised an eyebrow at him. “I think we should try not rousing a lot of suspicion,” he said, “Here, let’s go this way.” Ed lead them back around to the facility. They found themselves facing a high wall with barbed wire at the top. Al hoisted Ed up to the top and he began threading the wire down for Al to use as rope. Rin clung to Al’s back as he climbed the wall, legs wrapped around the suit’s waist.   
“Good thing you have automail,” Rin said after they got over the wall, “otherwise we’d never have been able to get this far.”  
Ed smiled. “Guess you do have a point!” he responded with a smile. They searched around for an entrance, but all they could find was an air duct barely big enough to fit Rin. “Sorry Al, looks like you’re going to have to wait out here,” Ed said apologetically.  
The boy in the suit pouted as they finished climbing inside.   
“I can’t help it that I’m so large…” he muttered, crouching low.   
Rin felt bad for him, but couldn’t turn around to face him. “Don’t worry!” he called over his shoulder, “We won’t be gone for long! You’ll see!” With that they began crawling along inside.  
…  
Number 48 and 66 sat in the observation deck. “It appears we have some intruders,” 48 said.  
66 snickered. “Some daredevils climbed the walls? Wonderful! I’ve been waiting for some fresh meat!” The former serial killer cackled, “Oh, but who to slice up? The two skinny boys or the big guy in the armor! Oooh I wish I could carve them all up!”  
“Now be reasonable,” 48 said gesturing to themselves, “We’re actually two people so we should get the two teenagers.”  
“Yes!” a second voice sounded from 48’s chest, “It would be so much more of a challenge anyways. I’ve been thirsting for a challenge!”  
“NO!” A low voice boomed from behind them. They turned to see Astaroth standing behind them. “Leave the black haired boy. I have something special planned for him.”  
…  
Yukio stepped out of the portal of truth only to find himself in the middle of a wintery white landscape. He shuddered in the cold, wishing he had brought a coat with him. “Wh-where are we?” he asked, rubbing his shoulders with his hands.  
“Poland,” Mephisto said, not even flinching at the cold. “Ah, this place sure does bring back memories,” he sighed from nostalgia, “I remember the first time this place was invaded and completely wiped off the map! Good times…”  
Yukio gave him an odd look but shook his head. “So why are we here?’ He asked.   
Mephisto pointed with his umbrella at an old, run-down looking castle-like structure. “That, my friend, is where you will find the information you seek,” he said, “The Research Lab for Artificial Life.”  
…  
Ed and Rin continued to climb through the ventilation in silence. It was stuffy and dark and tight. Rin was glad he wasn’t claustrophobic. However, he wasn’t glad he had such a sensitive nose. “Phew!” Rin said, “It smells terrible in here! Do they ever actually use the vents in this place?”  
“Well, It’s abandoned, so I’d say, no…” Ed said sarcastically.  
Rin pouted. “No need for sarcasm!” Rin grumbled. As they continued on, Rin found it harder and harder to move. “Ok, that’s it…” Rin said as they came to a fork, “I’m going to head down this way.” He gestured to the one Ed decided against.  
Ed blinked in surprise as he glanced over his shoulder. “Why? What’s wrong with this one?” He asked.  
“It’s too small!” Rin said, “I’ll get stuck!”  
Ed smirked at him. “Yeah, well that’s what you get for being an over grown giant unlike me!” Ed said smugly.  
Rin glared at him before smiling evilly. “You do realise you just called yourself small right?” he said.  
Ed’s eyes widened in horror at this revelation. “GAAAAAAAH!” He cried out in shame. “YOU TRICKED ME YOU TITANIC JERK!” he cried over his shoulder.  
Rin snickered. “I didn’t do anything! It was you with the sassy comeback that backfired,” he teased.  
Ed grinded his teeth at him. “Just get out of here!” he snapped, “Take your stupid plus sized vent and get out of here!”  
“Worth it!” Rin said sticking out his tongue at him. “See you later Ed,” he responded before turning off. He headed down the larger tunnel for a few minutes before dropping down into a hallway. “Ok,” he said dusting himself off in the dim light, “Where do I go from here?” He began wandering down the hall.  
…  
Yukio looked around curiously as they wandered through the building. “What exactly happened here?” he asked, “What sort of things were being studied?”  
“Mostly creating frankenstein like monsters and demons,” Mephisto explained, “There were also a few tests into cloning and research on the nature of souls. The Vatican disapproved of the research, however and eventually shut it down.”  
“Then why are their lights on?” Yukio asked, noticing the florescent lights hanging above them.  
“This place is still used in a way, but not for research,” he explained, “A few former researchers and family members of researchers use the cryo chambers here for the bodies of loved ones that have passed on. This place has become sort of a cemetery of sorts.”  
Yukio nodded as they continued deeper into the facility. “And you know all this...why?” he asked.  
“Well, a long time ago, I used to supervise the research here,” the demon king explained, “But eventually, I grew tired of it and passed the work onto my disciples.” They approached a large metal door and Mephisto pulled out a key. He unlocked it and turned the tumbler before pushing the door inwards. Inside the room were several filing cabinets and bookshelves. “Here we are!” he said. He then walked over to the book shelf and began thumbing the spines, looking for the right one.  
“Wow…” Yukio said, “There’s so much in here…”  
“Not for long,” Mephisto said.  
Yukio gave him a curious look. “Why’s that?” he asked.  
“Because I’m getting rid of most of this,” he explained, “An employee of mine at True Cross Academy named Igor Neuhaus spotted someone snooping around here. He was visiting his wife’s body, which is stored in one of the cryo chambers, when he saw Sir Arthur Angel outside the premise.”   
Yukio frowned as he remember that name. “What was he doing there?” he asked.  
“Probably trying to find evidence to use against me,” Mephisto said before smiling,”Ah! Here it is!” He pulled the book off the shelf and began walking back towards Yukio. “Arthur has always been suspicious of me since I faked your deaths,” he explained, “He does not believe a demon such as myself would willingly kill the sons of Satan. So for years he’s been trying to find away to get people to believe him. Recently he’s been trying to get a search warrant for my office to see if he can find any evidence to use against me.” “I think he was trying to find something incriminating enough here to warrant a warrant. I don’t remember if there is anything or not so I’m just getting rid of it to be safe,” the demon continued, “While there are no records left of our little plan to keep you two alive, there are plenty of other things in my office that I’d rather not have searched through or confiscated.”  
“Like your keys?” Yukio offered.  
“Exactly,” Mephisto said with an approving smirk, “The last thing anyone needs is to find out about my dimention hopping, and I doubt Truth would be happy if members of the vatican suddenly started flooding into his world...Though I am curious to see what would happen if Arthur or another exorcist attempted to attack Truth because he thought he was a demon.” The demon king gave an amused hum before turning back to Yukio. “Anyways, here you go!” he said, handing him the heavy leather-bound tome.  
Yukio gave him a curious look. “That’s it?” He said, “No cryptic warning?”  
“Maybe if you were someone else, but no,” Mephisto said, “I don’t think I need to if you read carefully.”  
“And why’s that?”  
The demon smiled. “Because I know you’re never going to use it!” Mephisto responded.  
Yukio frowned. “I thought you said this would help Ed and Al get their bodies back!” he shot back.  
“And it could!” Mephisto said, “There are plenty of entries in there about making and attaching body parts, and putting souls into bodies. But I highly doubt you or the Elrics will want to use them.” Yukio narrowed his eyes at him, but before he could say anything, Mephisto started walking passed him. “Come on!” he chirped, swinging his umbrella, “We better get you home so you can start on that.”  
...  
Rin’s footsteps echoed in the dimly lit hallway. As he walked along the maze of creepy hallways, he slowly realised how bad it smelled. “Ugh!” he cried, holding his nose, “Just standing in this place is making me sick! And would it kill them to turn on the heat a little? I don’t understand how it’s so cold in here in summer….”  
He stopped to shiver and rub his shoulders...when he noticed something. His wasn't moving but he could still hear the echo of foot steps. Rin’s eyes widened as he turned around to face the sound. “Who’s there?” he called. He was starting to get a sinking feeling in his stomach as they continued. It sounded like someone was running with how close together the reverberation of feet hitting the pavement were. “Ed?” Rin called as he slowly pulled his gloves on. He tried to listen to the sound. They didn’t sound like Ed's footsteps...They didn’t sound human at all actually. They sounded like….an animal’s….  
Rin felt the need to run as fast as he could as they got closer. He tried to move but couldn’t for some reason. He looked down and gasped to see mold covering his feet and stretching up his legs. His mind was swimming with confusion and panic as to what was going on. His heart started pumping faster as the pounding of more feet joined the one set. The smell of rotten flesh filled the air as he struggled against the fungus. Finally, he snapped his fingers, igniting the mold to set him free. It burned up and he sprinted away as fast as he could. The pounding of feet got louder and the stench got worse.  
Rin began to pant as he ran aimlessly away from whatever beasts were chasing him. He had no idea where he was going, he just had to find a way out. As he did so, he didn’t notice the increasing number of koaltars around him. He glanced over his shoulder to see how close the creatures were. He cursed as he saw they were a little over a hundred feet away now and gaining. He couldn’t see them clearly, but he could make out silhouettes. They mostly looked like dogs, but there were a few other larger, unidentifiable animals too.  
He turned his head back around and began to run faster. His heart was pumping and adrenaline poured through his veins like liquid fire. It gave him just enough of a boost to keep running although his lungs were screaming for clean air. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the large row of giant mushrooms sprouting at his feet and he tripped. Rin fell on his face. When hre tried to get up, he found that he couldn’t move He looked over to see that his arms had been blanketed in mold up to his wrists. He quickly snapped his fingers, burning it off. He tried to stand and start running again, but he found the beasts were now mere feet away.   
“AAAAAHHHHH!” He cried as he snapped his fingers, drawing a line of pillaring blue fire between him and the creatures. Most of them skidded to a halt at the line, but one jumped through the blaze. For a moment Rin’s eyes widened as it took in its appearance, It was some kind of dog, but it’s ears were missing. So was it’s tongue. The rest of it looked sewn together. It’s eyes were glassy and lifeless. It’s hairless skin was a sickening purple color and patches of mold were growing on it. Rin paused for only a moment before snapping his fingers, causing an explosion and throwing the beast into the wall.   
Rin panted as he watched the lifeless body burn up in his blue flames. It was only then that he realised what it was and what the other things were: ghouls.This place was full of ghouls and other demons. Rin froze. If this was what he was dealing with, how was Edward fairing? Rin began to panic but was drawn out of that by a calm, quiet voice.  
“Oh, now why did you have to go and do that…” it said, “It only wanted to play.”  
Rin turned to see Shou Tucker standing in front of him. A pack of ghouls stood at the ready behind him. Rin was dumbstruck. This shouldn’t be happening. “Sh-Shou?!” He sputtered.  
The man merely smiled at him an eerie smile. “Hello Rin,” he said, “It’s good to see you.”  
“Th-this isn’t possible!” Rin stuttered in surprise, “They executed you!” Rin felt sick to his stomach. He could feel evil radiating from the walls and around Tucker. Though his heart still pumped from fear, his fists were shaking in anger. How was it that his man was still alive after all he had done?  
“They never laid a hand on this body,” Shou responded, “Instead, they put it to work. I’ve been working down here for some time now, creating these wonderful creatures.” He gestured to the ghouls. He then turned to Rin, a deranged and malevolent look in his golden eyes. “I’m very proud of my work Rin,” he said, “Why don’t you come with me and stay awhile. I’d love to show you my creations.”  
Rin growled and pulled his gloves tighter, preparing to snap. He looked upon the man with pure hatred. “I’m not going anywhere with you!” Rin roared, “You’re sick, Tucker! And when I get out of here, I’ll make sure you get justice this time!”  
Shou gave him a patronizing smile. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that Rin,” Shou said, “Not until you’ve seen my greatest creation at least.” The alchemist snapped his fingers and one of the ghouls lunged for Rin.  
Rin was too fast for it, however, and set it ablaze as soon as its feet left the ground. The body fell to the ground as it burned. “You can’t make me stay!” Rin growled, “Now out of my way or I’ll burn you too!”  
Shou didn’t look the least bit displeased by this. “But my greatest creation has just been dying to see you!” he said, with a mad glee in his voice, “Oh Sweetheart! Won’t you come over here for Daddy?”  
Rin looked confused as he heard something limp to the front of the ghouls. Then his eyes grew wide as he saw what Shou’s “greatest creation” was. It was a large canine figure with patchy white fur. Its one eye was glazed over. The bones in the paws that jutted out against the flesh were too long for a normal dog Although the top of its skull and most of the flesh from its back was gone, he could still see long brown hair hanging from the tail.   
He froze in place as he stared upon the rotting figure. His whole body was shaking. He wanted to be sick. Flashback to the small basement lab came to mind and what transpired filled his mind as he stood dumbstruck. This couldn’t be real. It can’t be real! This was some kind of twisted nightmare! “Ni-Nina?!” Rin stuttered out.  
Shou smiled an insane, evil smile. “What a lovely reunion,” he sighed, “Nina dear, why don’t you go and say hello to your friend?”  
The ghoul suddenly lunged for Rin. This time however, he was too shocked to move and the creature bit his arm. Rin cried out in pain and fell to the floor. His body suddenly convulsed in agony as the demon slunk away and he became sick all over the floor. His head started hurting and he felt dizzy and feverish as the saliva of ghoul streamed through his veins. He tried to get up, but just threw up again. He glared up at Shou as he slowly became weaker. The man smiled a sadistic smile down at him. Rin was forcing himself not to pass out as his vision became fuzzy and his arms grew too weak to hold himself up. Rin’s eyes finally closed as he fell to the ground and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> ....Well, I'm officially a terrible person. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned for another fun filled chapter tomorrow! :D


	11. The devil damn thee black

“Ohhhhhhhh,” Rin groaned as he he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry as he slowly blinked awake. He narrowed his eyes in confusion. He felt so dizzy. The world around him seemed to be swirling. He looked around, but didn’t recognise where he was. His stomach felt queasy. “What happened?” he thought, “how did I get here?”  
“I can answer that for you,” a voice said. Rin turned to see Shou Tucker standing there. “Hello Rin,” he said, “Welcome to my laboratory. I hope you find it accommodating because you won’t be leaving any time soon.”  
It was then that the memories came flooding back. Of the hallway, of the demons, of Nina… Rage filled Rin’s eyes as he tried to lash out at the man in front of him, but found himself being held back by heavy chains. “GRRRR I’LL KILL YOU!” He screamed, “I’ll make you pay for what you did! How could you? How could you do that to your own daughter?! How could you turn her into that?”  
“I’m afraid you’re incorrect on this matter,” Shou said, grinning evilly while adjusting his glasses, “Nina was not my daughter. She’s Shou’s offspring.”  
Rin gave him a confused look. “But...you are Shou…” he pointed out.  
The man in front of him laughed a hearty laugh. “Oh, Shou hasn’t inhabited this body for some time now,” he chuckled, “Here, let me explain.” “Shou” suddenly hunched over and grunted as his body began to change. His fingers and fingernails grew long and sharp. A tail sprouted from him, and two ram like horns sprouted from either side of his head. Rin’s eyes widened in shock as the man looked up again, smiling to reveal sharp fangs. “My name is Astaroth, dear prince,” he said in a now much deeper voice, “I am the Demon King of Rot and the seventh son of Satan. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you my younger brother.”   
“A demon…” Rin hissed rage building, “How long have you been here? How long have you been in Shou’s body?”  
“Oh I’ve been hanging around for a while, but I’ve only started inhabiting this body recently,” Astaroth said with a wicked grin, “I hadn’t yet been able to fully enter this universe yet until this past year. So I just sat in the shadows, watching and waiting. And then I found Tucker. I really did admire his work. How he took God’s beautiful creations and corrupted and twisted them into crimes against nature...truly stunning!” “He was the perfect vessel for me. So much so that I even had a little power over him before I took his body,” the demon sneered.  
Rin’s eye’s widen. “So you were the one…” He whispered before starting to shout, “You made Tucker turn Nina into a chimera!”  
“Oh, didn’t force him to do anything, Rin,” Astaroth said, “I merely...suggested the idea. He was the one who decided to take it. And in the end, does it really matter? He had already done the same to his wife without my interference.”  
“You’re a sick bastard!” Rin roared, “When I get my hands on you I’m gonna-”  
“You’re the only bastard here, Rin,” Astaroth said, “and you aren’t going to get out. I’m going to make sure of that. You are going to stay here until we have need of you.”  
“You’ll never get away with this!” Rin screamed, “People are going to notice I’m gone at any minute, and they’re going to know exactly where I went!”  
“Oh really?” Astaroth said, “I’m surprised. Not many people. will go looking for someone they think is dead.” Rin’s eyebrows furrowed. Then Astaroth began drawing on the floor with chalk. “When we found out you would be coming for a visit, we knew we would have to cover our tracks,” he said as he took out a pan and filled it with water, “So we have several bombs in place to detonate the building above my little bunker. No one will expect you to survive that. Especially when they find this.” He grabbed a burlap sack and poured the contents into the pan, before setting it over the transmutation circle he had drawn. “You know, I think what I love best about this body, is being able to do this,” with that the demon placed his hands on the ground. Sparks of light erupted as the transmutation circle glowed. Rin looked away from the bright light. When he looked back, there was a body on the floor that greatly resembled himself.   
“Once they find this, they’ll stop their search and all we’ll have to worry about is keeping you contained until we need you,” he laughed, as he grabbed the limp body and headed for the door.  
“You can’t do this!” Rin cried, struggling against the chains, “You won’t get away with this! I won’t let you use me for anything!”  
“We already have, child,” Astaroth sneered, “No one that has set foot in here has ever left this facility. Not you, or anyone else!”  
“Anyone else?” Rin thought aloud. Then his heart sunk with fear as a realisation hit him. He had only made one body. Rin growled in anger as he eyed the man with hate. “What have you done with Ed?!” Rin demanded. The demon looked confused. “You said no one leaves this place, but you only made one body,” Rin snarled, “What have you done with my friend?”   
“I have done nothing with him...yet,” the demon said, “If 48 has not killed him then we still have plans for him. I’ll be back to make a dummy for him once I’m done with this.” He then smiled. “What a lucky day this has been! You humans walked right into our grasp like flies to honey! Maybe if our luck continues, we can bag the armored child too!”  
“Don’t you touch them!” Rin spat, tugging on his restraints again, “I’ll kill you if you do!”  
“And what exactly are you going to do to stop me, child?” Astaroth laughed, “Your current form is weak! Stuck between human and demon with no control of your true powers without those pesky gloves. Pathetic!” “It is shameful that you of all creatures can claim to hold father’s blood like I, especially with your sympathy for those beneath you,” Astaroth growled, “Even if you manage to escape your chains, you have no chance of getting passed me. I am a KING! You are a prince.” With that, the king of rot left, locking the door behind him.  
…  
Yukio sat down in the small cafe with the ancient book in hand. Verona cafe was the only one he could find that stayed open twenty four seven. He hesitated as he reached to open it. Mephisto’s words had not assured him. What did he mean by those words? Was it just too risky? Was there something in this that was worse than human transmutation?  
Yukio sat there in silence contemplating this as his coffee grew cold. He bit his lip as his curiosity ate at him. Finally he turned the cover of the book open. There was only one way to find out for sure after all.  
…  
Rin struggled against the chains as hard as he could before panting and relenting. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just roll over and let this happen. If only his demon powers weren’t so sporadic! He’d be able to pull the whole block out of the wall.   
Rin sighed and bent his head low as he analyzed his situation. Maybe Astaroth was right. Maybe there was no chance he could escape. Even if his demon strength kicked in right now and he freed himself, what would he do? He didn’t have his gloves, he couldn’t perform transmutations without a circle like Ed, and he wasn’t near indestructible like Al. For a moment, he almost gave in. Then he had a thought. “What would happen if I gave up?” Rin furrowed his brows. What would happen? The truth is he didn’t know. He knew they wanted them alive, whoever “They” were. They were going to capture Edward too and do god knows what to him, and they might take Al along with them. That alone made Rin’s fists clench, but the thoughts continued.  
He’d most likely never see Elicia, Aunt Gracia, or Uncle Hughes again. Or Hawkeye. He’d most likely never see his dad or his brother or any of his dad’s friends again either. They wouldn’t even search for him because they’d think he was dead…  
The thought full sank into Rin. They’d thing he was dead! How would they react. Hughes would have to explain it to Elicia somehow. He could see that tearing the man apart inside. Armstrong would probably cry, and so might Havock and Furey. Hawkeye wouldn’t, but he already knew she would feel terrible. She’d feel like she failed to protect them.   
But the ones who would be devastated the most would be his Dad and Yukio. His dad would be beside himself with anger and grief, if how he reacted when Rin almost died was anything to go by. He’d drive himself into the ground trying to figure out the cause. And if he got to close to the truth, “they” might kill him for it. Rin’s whole body was shaking now.   
And then there was Yukio. If Yukio found out he was dead…Well, Rin couldn’t begin to imagine the grief he would feel. He would surely blame himself for it. Yukio had wanted to protect Rin and he couldn’t. He’ll think because he wasn’t around to stop him from leaving, it would be his fault. He’d think he failed his only brother. He might even spiral into depression, possibly attempt to take his own life or commit human transmu-  
NO.   
Rin let out a mighty cry and pulled on the chains as hard as he could, snapping them like string. He then ripped the cuffs off of his ankles and stood up. He wasn’t about to let this happen. He may be a dog of the military now, but wasn’t going to roll over for this man any time soon. He’d rather die trying than give up. And so he raced over to Astaroth’s desk. He hoped to find his gloves in there or at least something to defend himself with.  
He pulled out every drawer and cursed when he found nothing. Damn it! Where could they be?! He had a sinking feeling that he had either destroyed them or was keeping them in his pocket. He growled in anger, but his anger dissipated as he accidentally opened a secret compartment in the desk. Rin pulled it open and gasped in surprise. There inside lay Kurikara.   
So many questions were flying through Rin’s brain. How did it get there? Why did Astaroth have it? Was he going to use it for something? Rin shook his head. No time for that now. He grabbed the sword, busted down the door, and ran out.  
….  
Ed was fighting for his life against the living suit of armor. He thought he had won by removing the head but that apparently wasn’t the case. He had misjudged his opponent and was now paying the price with a gaping slash in his side. But in his defense, how was he supposed to know the suit had two blood seals?!  
Ed grunted as he dodged another attack. He swallowed as he realised he was getting dizzy. Not good. But he couldn’t give up now. He just hoped rin was faring better.  
….  
Rin ran down the hallway as fast as he could. In hindsight, this was a pretty piss poor escape plan, but he hadn’t had much else to work with. He had no gloves, no guns, very little alchemy and no map. He did really even have a plan besides get out and try and save ed in the process. Oh, and avoid Astaroth. He hoped he was doing well at that aspect.  
“Oh look at this. It appears you are too dumb to give up,” Rin froze at the sound of that voice, “Though I guess it is no wonder. Most humans are too dumb to realise when they’re beat. Only being part is no exception here, it seems.” Rin turned to see Astaroth standing behind him a pack of five ghouls standing at the ready. “You’re making this harder than it has to be, young prince,” the demon king growled, “And for that, I am pleased to say I have no choice but to do this: sick em’.”   
The five ghouls lunged at him. Rin narrowed his eyes. He may be without his fire alchemy, but he was far from defenseless. He still had his speed and strength on his side. He dodged one and slammed it into the wall, causing the concrete around it to splinter. He kicked another in the nose, knocking its head off. He ducked as two attacked him at once allowing them to become confused when they butted heads and tear eachother apart. For the last one that tried to bite him, he knocked it away, using the sheathed sword like a baseball bat. He then thrust the sheathed sword through it’s rotten flesh with all the force he could muster. He panted as he removed it before looking up to see Astaroth staring at him in a mix of fear and anger.  
“Damn you…” He snarled, “Damn you infernal child! How did you get that sword?!”  
“I should be asking you that question,” Rin retorted, “after all, it was mine to begin with.”  
The demon growled, increasing in size and becoming more monstrous with rage. “I suppose it doesn’t matter…” Astaroth snarled, “You won’t be getting far with it!” Suddenly, large tendrils made of mycelia shot out from the shadows and grabbed Rin. They wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso, holding him taught and dragging along the floor.  
“No!” Rin grunted, “Let me go you stupid plants!” He struggled and clawed at the ground as Astaroth dragged him closer, laughing madly.  
The demon king smiled a wicked smile. “Foolish boy!” He sneered, “You cannot escape my grip. I am the King of Rot! The King of Death! No one breaks free my clutches….Everything withers away to me, be it a man in his prime, hopes and dreams, or the power of will. One way or another I find my victim and take them apart piece by piece. You will be no different, so just give in! Give into to the despair! Give into the hopelessness! Give into the rot!”  
“NO!” Rin screamed, ripping one arm free. “I won’t give up! I won’t give up for them!” he declared, before doing the only thing he had left to do. The only thing he could possibly do to retaliate. And the one thing he never wanted to happen. He reached for the grip of the sword and pulled it from its sheath. A bright burst of blue flames carried forth from the sheath and exploded into the air. Rin squeezed his eyes tightly shut as it engulfed him and the fungus that had entangled him. Astaroth cried out in rage but was powerless to stop what was happening. Rin could feel a power overcoming him. A thousand drums seemed to beat in his ears as he was overwhelmed by it. His canines grew, his ears became pointed, and a tail sprouted from his back as part of his humanity was seared away in the blaze. His heart felt like it was going to explode and that he would die at any moment...and yet Rin had never felt so alive.  
As the light receded, Rin fell to his knees, no longer surrounded by the demon fungus. Blue flames still clung to his form. He huffed and panted as he felt an exhaustion slowly creeping in on him. However, he found he had little time to rest.  
“Damn it! Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!!!!” Astaroth roared, standing up, “Wretched child...Cursed child! You were never meant to open it now!” “You will pay for this…” he bellowed, “I may not be able to kill you, but you will suffer for your insubordination! RAAAAAHHH!” The demon king charged at him as fast as he could. His raised his left hand, his long claws poised to rake Rin’s flesh.   
The boy’s eyes grew wide and he acted on instinct. He swung the sword and huge blaze was produced, sending Astaroth flying back down the hall. Rin took a moment to marvel at what he just did….but only a moment, as he quickly realised the demon wasn’t going to stay down for long. He began to race down the hall again, continuing   
his search for Edward. He hoped his friend was ok….  
….  
Ed was not faring very well at all. He had lost quite a bit of blood fighting the Slicer brothers. After he defeated them and was about to find out what they knew of the philosopher’s stone, these two freaks showed up, killed the slicer brothers, and now the one with palm tree hair wanted to capture him.  
Now Ed wasn’t one to give up without a fight, but it was obvious that he couldn’t win this battle.While he managed to land a few blows at first with his blade, he quickly found how ineffective that was as his opponent could heal in an instant. This person was also extremely fast, and it didn’t help he could turn his arm into a blade. At this point, he was barely keeping up with dodging. On top of all that, he was getting dizzier and dizzier from blood loss. At least his automail hadn’t given out though.  
SHINK! CLANG!  
The hand of Ed’s automail arm fell to the floor as his scantily dress enemy slashed enemy slashed through the wiring. “Whoopsie!” the homunculus said in a sing song voice while grinning, “Did I do that?” Ed stumbled slightly as his vision blurred and he felt woozy. “Aww...what’s the matter, pipsqueak?” Envy cooed in a patronizing tone, “Are you getting tired? Here, you should lay down!” With that he kicked Ed in the stomach sending him flying to the ground.  
Ed grunted and tried to stand up but couldn’t. He glared up at the homunculus. His head was spinning as he did so. “I think that’s enough, Envy,” Lust said, walking up behind him, “Ruff him up anymore and you might just break him. Let’s take him in.” Envy grabbed Ed and was about to sling him over his shoulder, when all of a sudden a voice shouted at him. “LET HIM GO!” The homunculi turned in surprise to see Rin standing in the entrance to the room.  
Rin was livid. Fury burned inside him like the blue flames that now clung to his skin. He looked upon them with rage while they stared back in shock. Ed just looked on in confusion as he wondered why the giant splotch of bright blue in his vision sounded so much like Rin.  
“What the hell?!” Envy growled, “What the heck happened to him? How did he escape? Why is he on fire? I thought Astaroth got rid of his gloves!”  
Lust’s eyes widened as she saw the sword in his hand. “He found the sword,” she hissed.  
“Damn it…” Envy snarled, before picking up the sword slicer had used, “Well I guess we better get it away from him then.” He then charged at Rin as fast as he could. He lifted the sword up to lob Rin’s hand off, but Rin was too quick For him. He dodged the homunculus and high kicked him, sending him careening through a wall and and into the outside world.  
Lust narrowed her eyes at him before extending her fingernails into her ultimate spear. Rin barely managed to dodge them, bending over backwards to do so. He swung Kurikara up to clip them before slashing the sword through the air, sending a ginormous burst of flames towards her. The explosion pushed her back into a pillar, which being already damaged from Ed’s fights, collapsed upon her.  
Rin glared at the pile of rubble before turning to Edward. “Ed?” He asked as he sheathed the sword and ran over to him. The teen was clutching his side and wincing, but he held a hand up to Rin. “I’m fine…” He muttered.  
“You are not!” Rin said, “Jesus Ed, how much blood did you lose?! You look ready to pass out.”  
“I’m fine, I just need to get…” He said trying to stand up, “Back on my…” But he promptly toppled over.   
“Woah!” he said catching his friend, “Slow down! Seriously, we need to get you to a doctor. Man, what did they do to you?”   
“It wasn’t them...It was the brothers in the suit of armor…” Ed responded, head starting to lull as he pointed to the broken armor, “Those people...they killed them…” Rin turned to see the mangled suit. He frowned. He didn’t know whether to to be glad or mad about this. He was broken out of his thought as Ed spoke up again. “Rin…” Ed spoke up, narrowing his eyes as he tried to focus, “Why is there a rope...attached to your back…”   
Rin looked down in surprise and realised he had a tail now. ‘Crap!’ He thought, ‘How am I going to explain this?’ “Uhhh…” He started, “It was Shou! He had captured me and tied me up. This is what was left.  
Ed looked up at him in confusion. “Shou? As in Shou Tucker?” He questioned, “He’s alive?”  
“Yeah,” Rin responded. Then, out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. The rubble Lust was buried under was beginning to sink. “Ed we’ve got to go! Now!” He said, helping him up as he wrapped his tail underneath his jacket. He then dragged him towards the opening Envy had made.   
As Rin pulled Ed through it, he saw the homunculus starting to stir. “What the hell?” Envy hissed as he held his head. He looked up to see Rin and his eyes widened. “YOU!” He snapped, starting to get up to attack again. However Rin swiftly conked him on the head with the sheathed sword, hitting him hard enough to cause brain damage to someone else but instead, simply knocked the homunculus out. Rin then dragged Ed around the corner of the building where he spotted Al and Lieutenant Ross facing off against another suit of armor.  
“Guys!” Rin called, running towards them.  
They both turned to him. Al gasped as he saw the state of them. Rin’s suit was torn and his sleeve was stained with blood, but Edward was worse for wear. His face was cut up. His automail arm was broken and there was a large gash in his side. “Brother!” he cried,”What happened to him?!”  
“Rin are you and Ed alright?” Lieutenant Ross questioned, “What happened to the two of you?”  
“No time to explain,” Rin said, adjusting Ed on his shoulder, “We need to get Ed to a hospital. FAST.” Al and Maria nodded.  
“Wait!” Al said, “What about-” then an cackling laugh sounded through the air. They both turned to see number 66 runninging away, his metal feet clanging against the ground.  
“See ya suckers!” Barry cried, “You’ll never take me alive!”  
They all paused for a moment to process what they had just seen. “So…” Al said, “Hospital then?” Ross and Rin nodded before they left the scene.  
…  
“You idiot!” Father shouted, “How could you let him get away!” “He has the sword now and his demonic powers!” He snapped, “How are we supposed to capture him again? Especially with how easily he managed to dispatch those two!” He pointed to Lust and Envy on the sidelines.  
“He did not ‘dispatch’ me!” Envy argued, “I just wasn’t prepared for him! How was I supposed to know he had inhuman strength? Right Lust?” The homunculus turned to his sister for support only to find her silent. She slightly hunched over and gripping herself as she glared at the ground. Envy huff. “Fat load of good you are…” He grumbled as he turned from her.  
“Even so, this is a disgrace!” Father bellowed, turning back to the demon, “This is your fault! He’s released his power now because of you!”  
“I know, Sir, but trust me, all is not lost!” Astaroth said in his best soothing voice. It made him sick to have to use it. “There are many ways to capture a demon, and now that he is mostly demon instead of human, he won’t be immune from those methods. And we still have plenty of time before we need him,” the demon king continued, “Besides...now you have seen a taste of the kind of power you can one day possess…” Astaroth grinned as father relaxed with intrigue. “You see how easily he dispatched your children? No human could imagine doing that, and the child is only beginning to realise the shred of power he has been gifted with. Imagine what you could do with ten times that amount,” Astaroth continued, “Just humor me a little longer. I promise you will be gifted with all the power you rightfully deserve.”  
Father narrowed his eyes but nodded. “Very well demon,” he said, “I’ll continue to work with you for now. So what do you suggest we do next to get him back.”  
“For now, I suggest we lay low,” the demon answered, “Lure them into a false sense of security and keep any information of us and our plans out of their reach.”  
Father nodded in agreement. “That sounds like our best option for now,” he said, “But I expect you to come up with a real plan in the meantime to capture him.”  
“Understood, Sir,” the demon said before leaving Father’s presence. Envy glared at him as he slinked away.  
“Rotten bastard…” Envy hissed, “Doesn’t it just boil your blood how he’s getting away scott free after how royally he screwed up?” He turned to Lust, who was still silent. His brow furrowed even farther. “Are you going to say anything?” He snapped.  
“Envy,” she said in a low voice, “I need to speak with you alone for a moment.”  
The other homunculus arched an eyebrow as she slowly got down from the pipe the had been sitting on. He followed her over to a secluded area where she turned to him. She slowly lowered her arms to reveal a five inch burn across her stomach. It wasn’t that deep, but it was red and angry and stood out against her black dress.  
Envy took a step back in surprise. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed, “What are you doing, you idiot?! Why aren’t you letting it heal?”  
“I’m trying!” Lust hissed, “But it won’t go away!”  
Envy’s eyes widened in shock and horror. “W-what?” He whispered.  
“When the kid burned me with his fire he left this mark, but it won’t heal over like a normal wound,” she explained, “And look!” She extended her ultimate spear on the hand which she used to attack him. The nails were still clipped.  
Envy was completely bewildered. “But that doesn’t make any sense!” he responded, “The kid attacked me and I healed just fine!”  
“Did he use his sword or flames on you?” She questioned.  
Envy blinked. “He hit me with the sheath…” He muttered before trailing off. There was a silence between them. Envy glared at the ground. How could this be? How could this pathetic little brat be so powerful as to cause them permanent harm?! “This doesn’t make any sense!” He growled, stomping his feet and creating cracks in the ground, “It's not fair! How is he able to do this?!”  
“It might have something to do with his powers,” she said, “We’re dealing with powers we don’t fully understand here. Ones greater than our own.” Envy glared at her for saying that but didn’t respond. “We have to let Father know about this,” she said, “We have to figure out how to stop this from happening again. Envy nodded and the two departed to head back to find their father.


	12. Body and Soul

Yukio slammed the book close and hid his face in his hands. He couldn’t read anymore. He wanted to curse out Mephisto for giving him this. He was right. There was no way he would ever use this. It was too terrible. Why would anyone do this?! Desperation or madness would most likely be the answer. Yukio rubbed his hand down his face. Now came the worst part: breaking the bad news to everyone. The younger twin sighed as he got up. Hopefully Rin, Al, and Ed wouldn’t be too upset when he got back to the hotel…  
….  
“They WHAT?!” Yukio cried.  
Denny scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Sorry Major, Sir, but they ended up into the hospital after they tried to sneak into lab 5,” he explained.  
“Oh those idiots!” Yukio growled, pulling on his own hair, “I told him not to do anything stupid!” What was he going to do with Rin? His brother was going to get himself killed or kidnapped or worse if he didn’t watch him 24/7! Maybe things would have been better if they were born conjoined at the hip….then again, it was hard enough dealing with Rin when he wasn’t stuck to his body. Yukio sighed and rubbed his temple.  
“Um, Sir?” Denny interrupted his train of thought, “Would you like me to take you to the hospital to see him?” Yukio gave him a werey look before giving him a grateful nod.  
….  
Ed blinked his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in the lab, but a hospital bed. The second thing he noticed was that that he was bandaged up and hooked up to an IV. The third thing was the pressure he felt at the end of the bed. He looked up to see Rin smiling at him, near equally bandaged up as he sat on the end of the bed in hospital garb. He blinked the sleep from his eyes. “Rin?” He asked.  
Rin smiled at him. Ed blinked. There was something off about that smile, despite its genuine warmth. “Hey Ed! Glad to see you’re back with the living!” the teenage demon chirped Ed studied his friend. There was something off about him, but what he couldn’t tell. He looked like Rin, but something was definitely different. His eyes were still blue...but they were now an almost unnatural shade of blue. Rin apparently noticed this and gave him a confused look. “Ed?” He asked, “Is there something wrong?”  
Ed blinked for a second realising he had been frowning in concentration. “Oh sorry,” he said, “I guess I’m still feeling a bit off.”  
“That is to be expected,” Ross said, gaining Ed’s attention, “You had passed out from blood loss. You might have ended up in a coma if we hadn’t gotten you here when we did.”  
“Really?” Ed asked, “Damn…”  
“Yeah, who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t found you,” Rin said proudly, “You’re welcome!” He crossed his arms and smiled smugly.  
Ed gave him an annoyed look before smiling and rolling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for showing up when you did, you big idiot,” he said, “I don’t know what stroke of luck you had in finding me, but it certainly was a miracle.”  
Suddenly Denny Brosh entered the room. “Excuse me Edward,” he said, “But the nurse said we could find Rin here. His brother wants to speak with him.” Suddenly Yukio entered the room. He had a very angry look on his face. Rin swallowed. Did he know already?  
“Rin, Get in the hall. NOW,” his brother demanded. Rin winced slightly before shuffling into the hall, shoulders slumped. The three watched him leave.  
“Looks like we won't have to lecture him,” Denny said jokingly as he and Ross gave the boy pitying looks. Ed didn’t, however. His brow scrunched together as he noticed the cloth of his shirt had stretched out over some sort of obstruction on his back. It almost looked like a fold in the fabric, but the rest of the shirt was too stretched for it to be that. What was that thing? He didn’t get a chance to get a better look before the door closed behind them.  
….  
“Rin I can’t believe you!” Yukio said, “I told you to stay at the hotel! I told you not to do anything reckless! Now look what happened.” He gestured to the many cuts and and the bandaged up wound. “The doctor said it was infected. How is it already infected?!” Yukio demanded, “What did you do?! Pour raw sewage on it?!”  
“Well….” Rin said, “It was kind of an animal that bit me, so that might have caused it to-”  
“You were bitten by an animal?!” Yukio cried grabbing Rin by the shoulders, “By an animal from a lab no less?! Did you tell the doctors this?! Rin this is bad! We need to get you rabies shots. We don’t know what that animal might have been--” He stopped when he noticed something was off about his twin brother. “Rin…” he whispered seriously, “What’s wrong with your eyes?!”  
Rin felt himself flinch as he realised what his brother was realising. “What are you talking about?” He said, flashing a smile, “My eyes are fine! I can see everything as clearly as-”  
“Rin, what’s wrong with your teeth?!” Yukio said before forcing open his mouth, “You have fangs Rin! Since when have you had fangs?!”  
“Well I-” Yukio cut him off and brushed hair on the sides of his head up. “Hey! What are you doing?!” Rin demanded.  
“Your ears are pointed too…” Yukio said in horror. He looked Rin dead in the eye. “Rin, what happened in the lab?” he demanded.  
Rin swallowed. There was no point in playing dumb anymore. “Well I have good news and bad news….”he started sheepishly, “The good news is, I found Kurikara.”  
Yukio’s eyes widened at what that meant. “No…” he whispered, “No no no, Rin you didn’t!”  
“And that would be the bad news…” Rin said with a sigh. Yukio brought his hands to his face as he slumped to the floor and moaned. Why did this have to happen? Rin gave him a sympathetic look. “Bro it’s ok,” he said kneeling down beside him, “Look I’m fine. It’s not like opening gave me cancer or-”  
“Things are not fine! Why did you do it?!” Yukio hissed grabbing him by the shirt, “You can't be human anymore, Rin! We have no idea how this will affect you! What if you lose control, or your powers consume you? What if you become an easy target for other demons? I don’t want you to hurt anyone or yourself on accident.”  
“Hey! Layoff!” Rin snapped. “Look, I’m fine! I feel no different than how I felt yesterday,” he said, “And for your information I only opened the sword because I had no choice!”  
Yukio looked up in confusion. “What do you mean you had no choice?” He asked seriously, “Rin, did someone force you to open the sword?”  
Rin frowned. “Sorta…” he said, “Let’s head back to my room…”  
….  
“So I was running from Shou-turned-demon, when all of a sudden he sent these mushroom tentacles or whatever after me,” Rin explained, “I had no way to fight him. No gloves, no holy water, nothing. But I had the sword and I couldn’t give up. So I ripped the sword from its sheath and blue fire exploded everywhere! Then Astaroth was ready to blow his top and he came after me, but I swung the sword and sent a blast of fire after him. It was so awesome!” Rin threw his hands in the air but settled down as he saw the more serious look on his brother’s face as he sat with his hands folded in front of his mouth. “Sorry…” Rin said, “I’m trying to be serious, but it was a cool moment...I mean I kicked a demon king back onto his ass after all.”  
Yukio shook his head and sat up smiling slightly. “Well it’s good to see you really are still you,” he said before frowning, “But this is very serious. What the heck is a demon king doing in Central? I wonder if this is what I sensed before…”  
“Sensed?” Rin asked.  
Yukio blinked. “Oh right,” he said, “While in Xing, as part of my Alkahestry training I had to learn to sense ‘lifeforce’ or ‘chi’. Basicly I can feel another’s presence, albeit not quite as strongly other alkahestrists, but still.”  
“That’s so cool!” Rin said, tail starting to wag, “can you teach me to do that?  
“It’s not as fun as it sounds…” Yukio said, “I usually try to block it because it makes it hard to concentrate when I’m trying to read or makes it harder to fall asleep...Still it is useful sometimes like when we found you in East City…. But that’s besides the point. When I entered Central when I first came back, I felt a huge unnatural presence underground. I had wondered if it had been demons, and I guess now my suspicion is confirmed.”  
“Yikes…” Rin said, “So...what does this mean for us?”  
“Well if they’re after you, then we probably should avoid Central from now on at all costs,” Yukio said, “As soon as you’re fit to leave we’ll head out.”  
“Right,” Rin said. Then, suddenly the door clicked as it opened. A nurse greeted Yukio before placing a lunch in front of Rin and leaving. Rin smiled before digging in. There was a long silence before Yukio spoke again.  
“...We’re going to have to call dad you know,” he said, causing Rin to choke.  
The teenage demon groaned. “Do we have too?” He whined.  
“Dad needs to know, Rin!” Yukio stated.  
“Yeah but can’t we wait a little while? Please? I don’t feel like being yelled at or explaining this twice today…” Rin said, giving his brother a pleading expression.  
Yukio narrowed his eyes at him before sighing and relenting. “Fine,” he said, “But I’m still calling Dad to let him know you ended up in the hospital. We were supposed to leave this morning on a train home after all. And as soon as you’re out of the hospital, we’re heading home and you are going to explain what happened IN PERSON.”  
Rin grumbled and crossed his arms before sighing and nodding. “Fine,” he said before turning back to his lunch. He took a bite of his chicken before yelping, spitting it out and fanning his tongue.  
“Rin?” Yukio asked, “Rin what’s wrong?”  
“Hot!” Rin cried before moving to drink his milk. He gulped it down and let out a satisfied sigh. “Jeez why is the cafeteria food so spicy today?” he complained.  
“Really? I didn’t think they were allowed to used a lot of hot spices,” Yukio said before taking a bite of Rin’s chicken. He blinked in surprise and his nose scrunched up. “Rin...this isn’t spicy at all…” Yukio said, giving his brother an odd look, “It’s just really, really salty.”  
Rin raise an eyebrow. “No way! It totally burned my tongue!” Rin said, “How else could have that happened? It’s far from fresh out of the oven…”  
Yukio blinked as realisation dawned on him. “Rin...I think you were having an adverse reaction to the salt,” he said, “You’re a demon now. Salt is used to kill demons….”  
Rin’s eyes widened as he followed his brother’s line of reasoning. “Aw man, are you serious?!” he cried, “I can’t eat salty foods anymore?”  
Yukio chuckled. “You probably can still eat a normal amount of salt,” he said, “Because this amount, I’ll admit, is a little excessive.”  
“That’s good to hear,” Rin said. Then Yukio got up. “Hey,” Rin said, “Where are you going?”  
“To call Dad,” Yukio said, “I’ll see you in a little while, Ok?” Rin nodded and his brother went out the door and headed down the hall.  
Envy watched from a distance in his nurse disguise. He frowned. While he was happy to have been able to pull off the salt trick on the brat after what he had done, what he had learned of the two’s plans had been upsetting. Now that they knew of Astaroth’s presence they were planning on avoiding Central at all costs. If the homunculi wanted their plan to work, they’d need to keep the kid somewhat close. He already probably had connections in Xing through Yukio. It would be easy for him to leave if they didn’t have a way to keep close tabs on them, and Pride’s shadows couldn’t reach anywhere outside the city and the tunnels….maybe Wrath would have an idea.  
…..  
As Yukio walked towards the phones, he saw Ed was already using one. He felt himself hesitate. If he spoke to Ed at all, he’d surely want to know about how the research was going, and well….Yukio wasn’t exactly ready to talk about his findings. He ducked into a hallway and decided to wait there until Ed finished his conversation.  
As he stood in the darkened hallway, he noticed that Al was sitting there too.  
“Oh hey, Al!” he said, “What are you doing here all alone?”  
The boy in the suit of armor looked up at him before shrugging. “I was just thinking is all…” He muttered.  
Yukio sat down next to him. “Are you alright, Al?” he asked.  
“I’m fine…” Al dismissed.  
“No, something’s definitely bothering you,” Yukio said furrowing his brow, “Are you worried about Ed?” Alphonse’s shoulders shifted and Yukio took that as a yes. He smiled a knowing smile at him. “I know how you feel,” he said, “One of the many things that Rin and Ed have in common is their recklessness and near unbreakable will. I worry about Rin getting into trouble all the time. It almost made me pull out more hairs while in Xing then my classes!” He tried to lighten the mood. It didn’t seem to work. Yukio sighed. “You know he’s only acts this way because he cares about you,” he said, “He’s pushing himself so hard because he wants to make things right again. I know cause Rin would do the exact same thing. If you’re upset with him, you should let him know why you’re upset. That he doesn’t have to put himself through all of this.”  
Yukio didn’t catch Alphonse clench his fists as he said, “Thanks.”  
“No problem,” Yukio said with a smile, “Well, I better go see if the line’s free now.” He got up and headed off. He went to the phone and found Ed had finished up his call. He picked up the receiver and began to dial. The phone rung for a while before Mustang picked up.  
“Hello?”  
“Hey Dad,” Yukio said.  
“Yukio?” there was confusion in his father’s voice as he spoke, “What’s going on? I thought you boys were on a train.”  
“I’m afraid we won’t be able to travel out of Central for a little while,” Yukio admitted, “Not until Rin is released from the hospital anyways…”  
Yukio could practically see his father’s eyes widening. “Rin’s in the hospital?” Roy exclaimed, “How? Why?”  
“He and Ed snuck into an abandoned government facility believing it may hold the truth behind the philosopher’s stone,” he said, “Apparently it wasn’t as abandoned as they thought as they ran into some less than friendly characters inside. Don’t worry though, both of them are ok now.”  
“Well that’s good to hear…” Roy said before sighing, “I wish it didn’t add to the list of the things that have gone wrong, though…First the sword and now this…”  
“Actually, I do have some good news about that,” Yukio said, “While they didn’t find the truth behind the philosopher’s stone, Rin did find Kurikara. The unfriendly characters happened to be the ones who stole it.”  
“Are you serious?” Roy asked incredulously, “Who exactly stole it? What were they trying to use it for? Is Rin alright?”  
“Rin is fine…” Yukio said carefully, “As for the rest of that, I’d rather explain it to you in person...It involves demons.” “That’s actually the reason he’s in the hospital,” Yukio explained, “Rin was bitten by a ghoul and it’s now infected. The doctors were freaking out at first because they had never seen something get infected so quickly. He’s mostly ok, as he doesn’t have much worse than a low fever, but the doctors won’t let him go until it’s completely healed so he doesn’t spread whatever super fast acting bateria they think he got in the lab.”  
“If I remember correctly, when I was attacked by a ghoul, Shiro had to treat it with something special made of holy water or the infection wouldn’t heal,” Roy said seriously, “You might need to figure out what you need soon. It might be in your demonology book.”  
Yukio nodded, though he frowned as the suggestion wouldn’t be very useful anymore. “Thanks for the info, Dad,” he said, “We’ll get home as soon as possible.”  
“Good,” Roy responded, “See you soon.” With that he hung up.  
….  
“Ugh…” Rin whined, “I can’t believe I’m going to be stuck in here for the next few days! I’m going to miss Elicia’s birthday party….again…” Rin pouted as he sat in his hospital bed, “Why can’t they let me leave? I’ve only got a small fever…”  
“Because these doctors have never seen an infection like this,” his brother responded, “Do you really think they would let you out into the public when they have no idea what's going on with you? You’re practically patient zero.” “You know you should be grateful it’s healing at all,” Yukio said annoyed, “Without your demon healing powers your arm might of started rotting before I would have been able to make anything to fix it…Not that we would have been able to use the holy water solution on you now. If anything, it probably would have made the wound worse.”  
“Still, it’s not fair….” Rin muttered, “Ed’s going to be out of here before me!” He flopped back onto the bed. “I’m going to be alone and bored!” he moaned.  
Yukio frowned at him. “What am I? Chopped liver?” He questioned.  
“Did I hear that someone was bored?” Maes called as he entered the room. Rin instantly perked up.  
“Uncle Hughes! Good to see you!” he said.  
“You too, Rin. Though I wish this visit didn’t have to take place in a hospital,” he said, ”You really got yourself bent out of shape there, didn't ya?”  
Rin grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah,” he said, “I was pretty reckless…” “So what are you doing here, Uncle Hughes?” Rin asked.  
“Oh, well thanks to you and Ed getting me to hire Sheska, I’ve had a lot more free time!” Hughes explained, “You’re right, that girl has an amazing memory! She’s already helped me recover almost a fifth of the military records.”  
“Glad to here,” Rin said.  
“Hey, you’re friends with Ed’s mechanic, right?” Maes said, “Well she’s here to help Ed. Wanna go say hi?”  
Both boys smiled and nodded. Maes lead them down the hall to Ed’s room. Yukio frowned. “Wait...I thought we were going to see Winry?” Yukio asked.  
“We are!” Maes said, “She should be almost done with him for now.”  
Yukio frowned. “But…”  
“Shhh!” Maes said, “Come on. Let your old uncle show you how to make an entrance!” He winked at them before grabbing the door handle. “Yo! Ed my boy!”he called as he entered the room, “Is it true you brought a pretty blonde girl into your room to service you?”  
Ed practically flipped his lid at that statement and Rin had to stop himself from bursting out laughing at Ed’s reaction. Yukio looked at his uncle in surprise. “NO SHE’S MY MECHANIC!” he shouted.  
“Oh, so you’ve seduced your mechanic,” Maes continued. This time Rin really did fall over laughing as Ed sputtered and blushed and flailed in response. Yukio sighed and held his head in his hand.  
“NO! THAT’S NOT IT AT ALL! STOP TWISTING MY WORDS LIKE THAT!” Ed shouted, causing Maes to grin further he then reached across the bed and shook Winry’s hand. “It’s nice to see you again little lady!” he said, “I’m Maes Hughes. We met briefly a few years ago.”  
Winry blinked. “Oh right! You were one of the ones who arrested that serial killer!” she said, “It’s nice to finally meet you formally.”  
Yukio then stepped forward. “Hello,” he said, “it’s good see you again!”  
“Yeah Winry!” Rin said, sitting on the bedside table, “We’ve missed you too. How’ve you been?”  
“Rin?” she questioned, looking him up and down in surprise, “What happened to you? You’re all beat up!”  
“Same thing that happened to him,” Rin said gesturing to Ed. Ed froze before trying to gesture to him to shut up.  
“Wait...I thought Ed got into a fight,” she said, “Was he fighting you? Were you the one who broke his automail?!” She glared at him.  
“What? No!” Rin insisted, “Ed broke it fighting this guy with palm tree hair! We snuck into this old abandoned lab a few days ago and were attacked by freaks trying to kidnap/kill us.”  
Ed facepalmed as Winry’s face grew pale. “You WHAT?!” she practically shrieked, “Ed is this true?”  
“Ummm…” Ed didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to say no and lie to her, but at the same time he didn’t want to admit the truth and upset her. He hated seeing her cry. Ed glanced around looking for a scapegoat. His eyes fell on Yukio and he smiled. “Ah Yukio!” he said in an overly cheerful voice, “I didn’t see you there! I bet you’re here to tell me all about that research you’ve been doing.”  
Yukio’s eyes widened. “Wait, Ed,” he said, “I don’t think this is the best time for tha-” But it was too late. The smaller boy grabbed him by the arm.  
“Oh of course it is! This just isn’t the right place for it!” Ed insisted as he dragged him out the door before turning to the rest of the group, “Sorry guys, but Yukio and I have to go talk about some serious alchemy research. It’s very important! Sorry it can’t wait!”  
“Edward!” Winry cried indignantly. Ed didn’t listen. He simply dragged Yukio down the hall as fast as he could. They zoomed past the open door of the bathroom where Alphonse was standing in front of a broken mirror. Alphonse peaked out of the hallway to see Ed and Yukio standing near by.  
“What the hell Ed!” Yukio hissed, “You almost tore my arm off.”  
“Sorry…” Ed responded, “I just really didn’t want to upset Winry again. I hate being the cause of her sadness.” “But I am really curious about that information the man gave you. I haven’t seen you in a few days. What did he tell you?”  
Yukio frowned and crossed his arms. He lowered his head, causing his eyes to be hidden behind. “He didn’t tell me anything…” Yukio said, “He gave me research notes on the study of souls.” Ed’s eyes widened. “Come on,” Yukio said, “I left it in Rin’s room.”  
...  
“These notes contained everything from what makes one up, to the properties, to manipulating one,” Yukio explained as he pulled out the dusty tome, “Decades of research and information on anything you may want to know lie between these covers.”  
Ed looked on in awe of it. He felt like he was standing in front of the holy grail. All of their goals could be met with just this one book. He reached out to touch it when Yukio pulled it away. Ed frowned at him in annoyance...until he saw the pained, serious look on his face. “I’m sorry Ed...but this isn’t what you want,” he said solemnly, “I...it’s almost worse than using a philosopher’s stone.”  
Ed blinked before his face became serious. “Why?” He asked, “I thought you said this doesn’t require human transmutation or equivalent exchange.”  
“You’re right, it doesn’t,” Yukio said, meeting Ed’s eyes, “But that doesn’t mean the results are much better.”  
Edward growled, feeling hurt for being lied to. “But he said the methods work!” Ed shouted.  
“Yes, the methods of transfer work,” Yukio said giving a dry laugh, “But the eventual outcomes are a fate worse than death…”  
“Enlighten me,” Ed said, voice cold.  
Yukio took a deep breath in and nodded before speaking. “The first method is to transfer Al’s soul into a living body. He would end up having to share that body with whatever soul was already occupying it. However, rejection may occur and the souls will feud for the body until one has total control and the other fades and dies,” Yukio stated. “The other method can have two outcomes,” Yukio continued, “If you attach his soul to a dead body, or a body without a soul, things will be fine...for a while.” “But after several days the body will either start to rot and Al would die a painful death of literally wasting away until there is nothing left or-,” Yukio said but stopped himself from continuing.  
“Or what?” Ed demanded, “What else could possibly happen?”  
“Al...would stop being Al…” Yukio said, trying to explain. In the notes it made it very clear what happened. The soul itself would start to decay as it couldn’t remain attached to a non living body and would become like that of a demon’s. But he couldn’t explain it exactly like that. “His soul itself would start to decay,” Yukio explained, “He’ll start giving into more basic urges: namely revenge. Souls in the past who have had this done to them will single mindedly start focusing on some kind of goal to get rid of the emptiness they feel. Usually that means going after someone who has wronged them. Soon enough, they’ll start losing their memories until they devolve into a mindless shell of who they once were.”  
Ed slammed his hand on the bedside table before sinking down onto the bed and covering his face in his hands. “Why...Why would he give us this?!” he growled, “If he knew what was in there, why would he give that to anyone?!”  
“Honestly? Because he knew we would never use it,” Yukio said, feeling guilty, “He specifically told me that when he handed them over to me. To be honest, he was planning on destroying them anyways. He probably only gave it to us because he knew he had something to gain without any repercussions.” Ed glared at the ground ground. “I’m sorry Ed…” Yukio said, “This is my fault.”  
“No, don’t blame yourself. I was the one who agreed to it,” he said, “But I really hate that guy now. What kind of sick person is he, keeping notes like this and toying with people to get what he wants? That’s just not human.”  
Yukio wanted to laugh at the irony of his statement, but didn’t. “He’s amoral, that’s for sure,” Yukio said, “But Rin and I and even Shiro owe him a lot.”  
Ed frowned at that. “I really wish you didn’t,” he said. It was true. He wanted to be able to completely hate that guy’s guts. But he couldn’t. Not completely, anyways. Not if what Yukio had said was true...at the same time he was confused. Why would he go out of his way to help them if he only cared about his own wants and needs? What could he have possibly had to gain? And why would Shiro, a man that Yukio and Rin respected as much as Roy and had cared enough for them to take the fall for them, be friends with him? It made no sense to Edward.  
After a few long moments of silence, Ed stood up. “Well, at least one good thing came from this,” he said. Yukio gave him a confused look. Ed turned to him with a determined expression. “We know that there are other methods to get ourselves back to normal besides the philosopher’s stone and alchemy,” he said, “If Al and I search hard enough for it, we just might find something that works.”  
Yukio smiled at him. “That’s one way to look at the situation,” he said. He was glad that Ed hadn’t given up hope. That was one thing he had always admired about the brothers. They had every reason to give up, but they never did. As Ed left the room, Yukio glanced at the notes again. He’d have to have Rin destroy them later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to be the barer of bad news, but I'm afraid my posts are going to become a bit more infrequent. I'm gettingready to go to college and I need to finish preparing. Also, once classes start, I will probably only beable to work on this on the weekends. Still, I'll try to get new stuff posted soon. have an awesome day!


	13. Truth or lies

“Transfer?” Roy questioned as they continued their game of chess, “Again? It feels like I just left central.”  
“Well it appears they want you and your men back again,” General Grumman said, “I suppose it's too be expected. With Scar still on the loose, the Fuhrer must want to keep an eye on all his top alchemists. With the lack of recent recruits, the military can’t exactly afford to lose any more.” “Still I think I’ll miss our little chess matches,” he said, moving a piece and smiling, “Check.”  
“You probably won’t miss them much after this,” Roy responded, moving a piece next to Grumman’s king, “Check mate.”  
The old many blinked in surprise before chuckling. “I finally lost!”he exclaimed.  
“And I finally won,” Roy responded, smiling as he cleaned up the board.  
“Well done,” Grumman said, “97 losses, 15 draws, and 1 win. I think that’s the best record anyone’s had against me.” He then pushed the chess board toward Roy. “Here, I should give you this as a parting gift,” he said, “Though maybe I should give you my granddaughter’s hand in marriage too. After all, you’ve certainly proved your worthiness.”  
Roy smiled at the old man and chuckled. “I think you’re thinking a little too far ahead here,” he said, “I’m not planning on settling down anytime soon. Though I will take the chess board for now.”   
The general smiled. “Could have fooled me. After all, you’ve already proven yourself to be a good father. Those boys have turned into fine young men, even if Rin has a bit more moxy to him than some can handle.”  
Roy shrugged. “I only did half the work, I’m afraid, and they aren’t men just yet,” Roy responded, “But thank you, Sir. It’s been a pleasure serving under you.”  
“It’s been a pleasure having you!” the old man responded, “Feel free to ever let me know you need anything.” Roy nodded before saluting the man and stepping out the door.  
….  
Yukio was heading down the hall to Rin’s room. He decided he’d help his brother from feeling so bored by bringing him one of his favorite books. Just as he was about to turn the corner, he saw Alphonse out of the corner of his eye. He was sitting in the hallway, staring off into space.  
Yukio blinked. “Alphonse? Are you alright?” he called, catching the boy by surprise, “This is the second time I’ve found you like this in the last week.” Alphonse looked away. “Come on,” Yukio said walking closer to him, “What is it? I’m not going to leave until you tell me.”  
Alphonse’s hand squeezed shut for a moment before opening again as he sighed. “Yukio…” Al started, “Is it possible for someone to make a soul?”  
Yukio blinked in surprise. “Al….Why are you asking that?” he questioned suspiciously.  
“Because I heard you talking toy brother about researching souls and….” he trailed off, “I’m worried that my brother isn’t really brother. That he just made me up and gave fake memories.”  
Yukio’s eyes widened in surprise. “Al, why would you think that?” he questioned.  
“Well, when I was fighting number 66 at the lab, another suit of armor, he asked how I knew if I was real, if I wasn’t just a puppet with a collection of artificial memories,” Al explained, “He said it was possible because I’d never seen my body. And...at Risembool I realised there was a bunch of stuff I couldn’t remember from when I was little that Ed could.”  
Yukio gave him a pitying look. “Al, that guy was lying to you. He might have been trying to mess with your head,” he explained in a calm voice, “I promise you, there is no way for one man to create a soul. Some may have tried, but never has it been successful. You can break one apart, you can transfer one, you can even destroy one but you can’t make one.”   
“Really?” Al asked, his form seeming lighter as there was a renewed spark in his soulfire eyes.  
Yukio nodded. “As for the memories, you shouldn’t worry. There are plenty of memories from when we were really little that I can’t remeber that Rin can and vice versa,” Yukio said, “The brain can’t contain all the information you’ve ever encountered. Heck, sometimes overtime that information gets manipulated to be entirely different.”  
“Thanks Yukio,” Al said before turning away. Then a thought came to him. “But there’s still one question on my mind…” Al said, “My brother said there was something he wanted to tell me, but he didn’t know how I would react….What could that be?”  
Yukio shrugged. “You’d have to ask him yourself,” Yukio said.  
Alphonse nodded and went to go do that, but he stopped and paused in his pace. “Yukio…” he said, “Why was brother asking for that research? Why did you have it?”  
Yukio blinked in surprise before he realised he had no idea whether Ed told him about why Yukio had called a few nights ago. “Oh that…” Yukio said, “You remember when I called the night you guys went to lab five right?” Al nodded, “Well I was calling because I thought I found a way of helping you guys get your bodies back. I ran into an old family friend from Assiah and he lent me some research notes he had acquired.”  
Al’s eyes lit up. “Well, what did you find?” he asked, “Was there a way?”  
Yukio sighed. “There was…” he said carefully, “But there wasn’t a good long term solution to your issue. They way of getting you a body the book had would have ended up with the body wearing out.” He didn’t want to elaborate with Al as he did with Ed. He didn’t need to know.  
“Oh…” Al said in disappointment, before placing a hand on his shoulder, “Still. Thank you for try. It really means a lot.”  
“Thanks Al,” Yukio responded, “I just wished my efforts weren’t wasted.” Or that Ed wasn’t bound to a favor for Mephisto….  
….  
“Hey Winry?” Ed asked as she finished up testing the mechanisms in his new hand she built for him the previous day.  
“Yes?” She responded.  
“Did you notice anything off about Rin?” he asked, frowning. The past few days, Ed swore there was something wrong with him. He looked different somehow. For instance, had his teeth always been pointed? He’d also been acting different too. He was acting really cautious of the cafeteria food. Usually he’d just scarf down whatever was in front of him. Also, while Rin was usually a physically affectionate person and didn’t mind being hugged or touched, he’d back away if someone tried to touch his lower back now. What exactly was going on with him.  
Winry gave him a confused look. “He looks the same as always to me. Why?” she asked.  
“I don’t know...I guess he just looks different since we snuck into lab 5,” he said.  
“Oh and speaking of which…” Winry said before slapping him upside the head, “What the hell were you thinking doing something so dangerous all on your own?! You could have gotten yourself killed or worse! Couldn’t you have at least have brought someone who was an actual adult with you?”  
Ed looked at her before looking away. “It’s not their problem, it’s ours. They don’t need to be involved and get hurt,” he said.  
“Well you certainly didn’t seem to have a problem letting Rin get hurt!” she cried.  
“Rin decided to come with us! He could have stayed if he wanted,” Ed explained, “And don’t you think I don’t already feel bad about Rin getting hurt? He wouldn’t have if it weren’t for me. I don’t want that to happen.” Ed glared at the ground and crossed his arms.  
“Ed, I’m not saying you need to let people get hurt for you, but you have to let people help you!” Winry insisted, “Please, can’t you just do that?”  
Ed looked away for a moment before nodding. “Speaking of which,” he said, reaching for his wallet, “Could you pick up some train tickets for dublith for us for tomorrow?” Winry blinked at him before smiling and nodding. She then took the money he handed her and headed out the door.  
About fifteen minutes passed, there was a knock at the door. Edward cocked his head to the side in confusion, but then smiled as his brother opened the door. “Oh hey Al!” Ed chirped, “Nice of you to drop by! What have you been up to?”  
“Not much. I’ve been hanging around the hospital…” Al admitted.  
Ed scrunched his brow together. “Really? Why haven’t you been hanging around my room then? I could have really used the company,” he said, “It’s been kinda boring here all on my own. The nurses don’t like me leaving the room by myself either.”  
“Sorry if it feels like I’ve been avoiding you,” Al said, “I’ve just been a little worried about something.”  
“What’s that?”  
“What was it you wanted to tell me?” Al asked, “You said there was something you had been afraid to tell me. What was it?” Ed froze. He frowned and looked away. Really? Did he have to ask this now? Ed had been trying to work up the courage before, but he was completely unprepared. He had no time to steel himself for the possible answer. “Brother?” Ed looked up to his brother who had a pleading look in his soulfire eyes.  
“Alright…” Ed said before taking a sharp breath, “Do you...hate me? For what happened with mom?”  
Alphonse felt shocked and confused. “Hate you? Brother, I could never hate you, even for that,” he said.  
Ed looked up in surprise. “But you’ve been trapped in that suit for years. You can’t eat or sleep or touch things and it's all my fault!” He exclaimed, “How can you be ok with this?”  
“Honestly, I’m not ok,” Al said, “But I don’t blame you brother. It’s as much of my fault as it is yours. I went along with it.”  
“But I was the older brother! I was supposed to take care of you!” Ed argued.  
“Younger brothers have to look out for their older brothers too! Look at Rin and Yukio!” Al defended.  
“They’re twins! They don’t count,” Ed argued.  
“URRRG!” Al cried grabbing his helmet and shaking his head, “Why are you trying to argue for me to hate you?! You don’t actually want me to hate you do you?”  
Ed blinked. “No….” he responded.  
“Then you don’t get to argue anymore,” his brother said, crossing his arms.  
“Fine…” Ed said. Then he blinked as he remembered something. “Hey Al?” he asked, “Have you noticed anything strange about Rin lately?”  
“Hmm?” the boy in the suit pondered, “Well kinda...It was weird but one time when I saw him out of the corner of my eye, it looked like he was dragging a long black belt behind him.”  
Ed blinked in surprise. “Really?” he said, “A belt? What was he doing with a belt?”  
“I don’t know, but what else could have been?” Al said.  
“Weird…” Ed muttered, “Winry said she didn’t see anything wrong with him, but I still think there’s something off.”  
“Like what, brother?” Al asked.  
“I don’t know...but when I look at him he just seems...different,” Ed said, “There’s something strange in his eyes and his smile…”  
“Maybe we’re just imagining things,” Al said, “I think the fifth laboratory has made us paranoid.”  
“Yeah, maybe…” Ed muttered, but wasn’t entirely sure. What he was was sure of was that something had happened to him in the fifth laboratory that neither of them knew about.  
…  
“Transfer?!” Rin cried, before biting his lip, “To Central? Are you sure?” His father had called the hospital, having been transferred over to Rin’s room. What might have been great news a few days ago was now terrible news. So much for being able to stay away from Central.  
“Yes…” Roy said on the other end, slightly confused by Rin’s reaction, “Is there a problem with that? I thought you’d be glad…”  
“No! It’s not that it’s just…” Rin said trying to grasp at straws, “I’ve just gotten really used to East City, is all! I’ll missed it!”  
“....Rin you’ve openly stated dozens of times that you dislike East City,” he said, “I’ve lost track of all the times you’ve complained about how the parks aren’t nearly as cool or that you miss Hughes being around.”  
Rin swallowed. “...It’s grown on me?” he offered weakly.  
Rin could hear his father sigh and could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose. “Rin, I know that you probably wanted to delay telling me as long as possible about what happened,” he said, “But trying to avoid me by staying in Central was never going to work. You’re going to have to just face the music.”  
Rin sighed. He couldn’t defend himself without revealing anything, so he didn’t bother fighting back. “Ok, fine…” He sighed, “Just be sure to take your time getting over here, alright?”  
His father chuckled. “I’ll make sure to take the fastest and earliest train then,” Roy responded.  
Rin rolled his eyes and pouted. “Jerk,” he muttered into the phone. Then he noticed Edward, Maes, and Al standing near the door. “Sorry Dad,” he said, “Gotta go. Visitors.” He then hung up the phone as the four flooded into the room.  
“Hey kid! Sorry to interrupt your call,” Maes said, smiling warmly.  
“Hey guys! Nah, its cool,” Rin said, before frowning, “Wait...why do you have a melon, Ed?”  
Edward Elric was indeed carrying a melon in a basket. He gave an awkward look before speaking. “It’s a long story, but the Fuhrer gave it to me. A kind of condolence for getting hurt,” he said, “he told me to give you this too.” He set a basket full of apples in Rin’s lap.  
Rin narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Why apples?” he questioned.  
“You’re asking me?” Ed responded, “I’m still questioning the guy’s sanity. I just watched him jump out the window of my room to ditch his guards like a kid sneaking out of school!”  
Rin blinked in shock. “Aw man I missed that?!” Rin cried, “Damn it! That must have been hilarious…”  
“It was...Something…” Al said.  
“Anyways,” Maes said, “As much as we’d all like to continue questioning our leader’s maturity, we do have a reason to be here, or at least I have. I need a witness statement from you about what happened in the lab.”  
Rin nodded. “Ok sure,” he said.  
“So I know you and Ed snuck in through the air vents,” Maes said, “And I know you ended up saving him from the two who were after him.”  
“Yeah, there was a freak with palm-tree hair and a lady with giant fingernails,” Rin recounted.  
Maes smirked at his discription before continuing. “So what happened just after you split off?” Maes asked.  
“Well, I was walking down a hallway,” he said, “And then all of a sudden I started hearing something running after me. I turned and saw a pack of gh-” He stopped himself before he finished the word. “Chimeras,” he clarified, “They chased me down the hall where Shou Tucker was-”  
“Shou?” Maes snapped, eyes suddenly becoming much warm, “He’s alive?! How? The records say he was executed!”  
“Yeah I thought so too, but apparently he’s been hiding out in some bunker lab like a creep,” Rin said.  
Maes gripped his pencil tightly. He was furious at this revelation. If there were any man he was glad had been killed, it was Shou. Maes could usually keep his emotions out of his work, but after finding out what he did to his wife...and then his daughter….Well he’d almost been willing to perform the execution himself. He could never imagine someone so cruel as to do that to their own child. Maes exhaled and looked up, faking calmness. He could see the looks of confusion on the boys’ faces. “Continue,” he said, gesturing to go on.  
“Well…” Rin said, “he sicked one of his chimeras on me and it bit me. Something in the bite caused me to pass out-”  
“You passed out?!” Maes said, a look of worry on his face. Ed and Al looked scared too.  
“Yeah, so?” Rin said.  
“So, you have no idea what happened to you during that time!” Ed said.  
“What are you talking about? Nothing really happened,” Rin said, “He just dragged me down to bunker lab and chained me to the wall.”  
“That’s not nothing Rin,” Maes insisted, “What happened when you woke up? Were you in any pain, and if so, where?”  
“My arm I guess…”  
“Did you wake up sitting in a transmutation circle?” Ed asked.  
“Or did you feel like you weren’t quite yourself anymore?” Al asked.  
“No, none of that happened!” Rin said, “Look, I’m fine. I didn’t have any more injuries or felt any different from when I woke up than when I passed out, ok? So now can i finish my story?” All three frowned and shared a glance but nodded. Rin continued to retell events. He mentioned that Shou had explained that he was needed for something, but he didn’t know what. How he was planning on capturing Ed as well and faking their deaths (This sent a chill down Ed’s spine and made Maes almost break his pencil). How he had been in league with the homunculi and how they had stolen the sword from his house. Their faces were upset as he described this, but then he described how he escaped (though he substituted breaking the chains for slipping a hand out a picking the locks) and how he attacked Shou and Rin could see how they changed into proud smirks.  
“And then I found Ed and that’s that,” Rin finished up.  
“Wow…”Al breathed, “All that happened while I was outside?”  
“More or less,” Rin said.  
“And you act like that’s nothing…” Ed said, slightly baffled.  
“Well it wasn’t but I’m not scared of it happening again,” he responded. Truthfully, with his demon powers, Rin felt a lot more confident in his abilities. He was more worried about those people going going after those he cared about. He couldn’t imagine how terrible he’d feel if those people did something bad to Maes, Al, Ed, or anyone else he cared about. Speaking of which…  
“Hey Ed, I noticed you’re back in your normal clothing,” he said, “Are they releasing you already?”  
He smiled. “Yeah, Al and I will be heading out first thing tomorrow,” he said, “We’ll be heading to Dublith after we stop in Rush Valley for Winry to check out the automail there.”  
“You’re heading to Dublith?” Rin questioned, “Aw, I want to come! I miss that place…”  
“You’ve been there?” Al asked.  
“Yeah, When I was younger my brother, my dad, and I spent a month there when I was first practicing flame alchemy,” Rin explained,  
“Oh, yeah!” Maes said, bringing a hand to his chin, “I remember that. I helped your father decide on that place…Then you came back a month later with that cat.”  
“So why are you going to Dublith?” Rin asked.   
“We’re visiting our alchemy teacher,” Al explained, “We’re hoping she might have some information for us.”  
“Alchemy teacher?” Rin said, cocking an eyebrow, “You mean like Izumi Curtis?”  
Ed and Al blinked in surprise. “You know teacher?” they asked simultaneously. Maes gave an intrigued look at this.  
“Yeah,” Rin said, “Funny story, but we accidentally ended up staying the month with her and paying rent because all the hotels had been booked.” Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly.  
Maes chuckled. “Yeah, that sound about right for Roy’s luck,” Maes said,”I’m surprised you boys didn’t find that commonality sooner.”  
“Well we don’t really talk about teacher all that much,” Ed said with a shrug. “I hope she won’t be too mad at us…” He muttered nervously, “What with how we messed up.”  
“Yeah...I really don’t want to die!” Al cried, “I haven’t even gotten my first kiss yet!”  
Maes gave them a pitying look and a comforting hand on their shoulders. Rin Gave them a similar look. “Hey, it’ll be fine guy!” Rin said, “I’m sure she won’t actually kill you.”  
Ed and Al gave him a pointed look. “You don’t know teacher like we do,” Ed said.  
Rin winced at the genuine fear in their eyes. “Well then feel free to call me up if you need backup!” RIn said. The two smiled.  
“Well,”Maes said as he got up, “I’m sorry to say, but I gotta head out. This stuff isn’t going to research itself!” He then walked over and tousled Rin’s hair, much to the teen’s annoyance. “See ya kiddo,” he said with a wink, “Don’t get yourself into too much trouble, now!”  
“No promises!” Rin called as he left the room.  
Ed smiled at the exchange before turning to Rin. “We have to head out too,” he said, “Gotta get packing and all.”  
“Alright, see ya,” Rin said with a nod. With that, the two boys left.   
Ed and Al walked down the hall for a few minutes in silence. Then Al spoke up. “Brother…”he said, “Do you really think Rin is ok? That nothing else happened in that lab?”  
“Not a chance,” Ed responded. His expression was brooding. “Rin is hiding something from us,” he said, “and I bet Shou had something to do with it.”


	14. Rage Agaisnt the Dying of the Light

“Come onnnnn….” Rin begged the nurse, “Can’t I leave just for just a little while? It would only be for an hour at most.”   
“For the last time, Sir, I can’t let you leave!” the tall brunette woman said in exasperation, “Your wound is still healing. It could get worse if we let you leave.” Rin huffed angrily. “Sir, please be reasonable!” she said, “The wound is infected. It needs to be monitored…”  
“Whatever....” Rin huffed. There was a knock at the door.   
“Oh look!” the nurse chirped, “It appears some friends are here to see you, isn’t that great?” Rin rolled his eyes as she opened the door for the visitors to enter as she left.  
“Rin!” he heard a little girl cried and looked up just in time to see Elicia hop up onto his bed. He chuckled as he adjusted her on his lap as Gracia and Yukio stepped in.  
“Hey there, girly!” he said tousling her hair, “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you outside all the pictures your dad has of you. How are you doing?”  
“Good!” she chirped.  
“It’s great to see you Rin,” Gracia said, “We meant to visit you sooner, but we were busy preparing for and then cleaning up after Elicia’s party that we haven’t found the time to stop by.”  
Rin nodded before he noticed Elicia was pulling out something from behind her. It looked like a little tin lunch box with a red cross on it. “Whacha got there?” he asked smiling.  
“Daddy said you got all beat up, so I’m gonna make you feel all better!” she said opening up the toy first aid kit.  
“Oh so you’re a doctor now, are you?” Rin asked with an amused smile. Elicia nodded before pulling out her toy stethoscope and started listening to his heart. Rin laughed. “Step aside, Yukio,” Rin said pointing to her, “I think she’s got this covered.”  
Yukio smiled and Gracia giggled. “I’m sure she does,” he said.  
“She just got the kit a few days ago,” Gracia explained, “She’s been dying to show it off as much as she’s been dying to see you, though I assure you those two things are unrelated.”  
Rin nodded as Elicia continued examining him. She then pulled out a small flashlight. “Say ‘Ah’!” she said. Rin snorted but complied and she shined the flashlight down his throat.  
Yukio walked over to him. “We’re just stopping by for now, but I have some good news for you,” he said, “I’ll be in later filing my own transfer to this infirmary. What with dad transferring here, I thought it would be a good idea. I don’t have much of a choice, considering the fact that my only other option would to be alone in East City.Anyways, while I’m working on that, I’ll also be working on you getting released early.”  
Rin smiled. “Aw sweet!” Rin cried.  
“Nooooooo!” Elicia whined, “Stop moving! I need to examine you.” She pouted at them and the boys shared amused grins.  
“I’m so sorry, Dr. Hughes,” Yukio chuckled, “I’ll stop bothering your patient. Go ahead and continue.”  
She nodded before shining the light in his nose and ears and then looking into his eyes with a magnifying glass. “Just as I thought!” she said in a serious voice as she sat back while stroking her chin, “You’ve got a broken arm!”  
Yukio fake gasped. “Oh no! What do you suggest doctor?” he asked.  
“He needs…” she started, “A shot!”  
Now it was Rin’s turn to fake gasp. “Not a shot! Anything but that!” he bemoaned, throwing his head back while still smiling.   
“Yes a shot!” Elicia said gravely, pulling out a toy shot, “Don’t worry. It won’t hurt that much. It’s for your own good.” She then brought the shot to his injured arm and pressed the plunger down while saying “Bwoooop!” “There!” she said, slapping a bandaid shaped sticker on his arm, “All better!”  
“Really?” Rin said, “Well looks like I won’t need your help, Yukio! Dr. Elicia says I’m all better.”  
“I suppose so,” he said as she hopped off his bed.   
Gracia stepped forward now. She held up a cardboard box containing a slice of cake. “I know you were upset about not getting to come to Elicia’s party, so here,” she said, “It’s not much, but I thought you’d enjoy it.”  
“Awesome!” he cried, “Thanks Aunt Gracia! You’re the best!” he rubbed his hands together and pulled the fork from the box before digging in. He moaned in delight.  
She smiled. “I try,” she responded. “I’m afraid we have to go for now. We have to say goodbye to Ed, Al, and Winry at the train station. Come along Elicia.”  
“Ok, tell them I said good bye,” Rin said, “Thanks again for the cake!”  
“You’re welcome,” she said, “say goodbye Elicia.”  
Rin smiled and snorted. “Bye Dr. Elicia,” Rin said, “Thanks for all your help.” The two left the room, leaving Rin and Yukio alone.  
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back later,” he said, “You can annoy me while I finish filling out paperwork.”   
“Sounds like a plan,” Rin said to his twin. Yukio nodded. With that, he began heading towards the door, leaving Rin alone again. Rin sighed and slumped in his bed. Screw what happened to him at Lab 5, having to sit here alone was ten times worse. Maybe he could call Hughes...He could probably at least get him to tell him a daughter story. That would be better than being stuck in here all alone.  
…..  
Maes sighed as he sifted through the mountains of records, searching for something. Anything to help him figure out what was going on with lab five. Most of the files readily available were restricted or classified. Thank goodness he had sheska who had secretly read and memorised them all. Still there was a lot to go through on the subject. And he had so many questions. Who were these homunculi? Where did they come from? Why were they here? And why were they working with Shou? He sighed. So much for getting home early.  
All of a sudden the phone rang. “Hello?” he said as he picked it up, “Investigation office, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes speaking.”  
“Hey Uncle Hughes!”   
“Rin?” He asked, “Well this is a surprise. What’s the occasion? Are you out of the hospital yet?”  
“Not quite yet,” Rin said, “But Yukio’s pulling some strings.”  
“That’s good to hear,” he said, “But then why have you called? Did something happen today?”  
Rin sighed. “No...nothing actually, and that’s the problem,” he lamented, “I’m bored out of my mind over here. So I thought I’d call you! I’m sure you have plenty to talk about.”  
Hughes hesitated. He would love to just talk on the phone right now. Rin was one of the few people who actually seemed to really enjoy hearing him talk about how wonderful Elicia is(Though the boy would usually pass on stories about his wife). Though he doubted anyone truly hated them. After all, Elicia is just so adorable isn’t she? She was just one of the cutest and sweetest little girls in the whole world! How could anyone hate that?  
...But he really couldn’t talk right now. He really should be working on this. After all, he didn’t know how long it would be before someone found out and shut him down. He had to get this work done as soon as possible. The fate of the country as he knew it could hang in the balance. “I’m sorry Rin, but this isn’t the best time,” Maes said with a sigh, “I’d love to really, but I’ll probably be staying late working on this as is and it’s-”  
“Aw come on!” Rin whined, “Please? Just for a little while? I’m dying of lack of social interaction over here!”  
“Rin…”  
“Please? Just one story,” the boy pleaded, “Don’t you want to tell me all about how Elicia’s birthday went?”  
Hughes pursed his lips before sighing and caving in. He honestly did want to talk about it. And Rin had really wanted to go to her party...It was only fair that he tell him what had gone on. “Alright, if you insist!” Hughes said with a smile and a sigh.  
…..  
The shadows stretched as day turned into night. Maes was still at his desk now marking on a map. He could feel that he was getting close to a breakthrough. “First Liore….All these endless uprisings...The philosopher’s stone,” he hissed as he circled places on the map, ”human sacrifices….and the outright extermination of the ishvalan people...they have to mean something.” He growled and bit his pen as he focused on the map. Then his eyes suddenly widened as realisation dawned on him. The places he marked….there was a pattern to them. Mapped out, it looked as if they made a giant circle…  
“This is insane….” he growled as he could vaguely hear heels clicking down the hall. “But wait...Where does Tucker fit into all this…” Hughes wondered, scratching his chin. Surely the man was too young to be much more than a pawn in this…maybe...  
Maes train of thought stopped as he heard the door creak open. “Well done Mr. Hughes,” a sultry voice said.  
The Lieutenant Colonel turned to see a lovely woman with dark hair dress all in black. He quickly noticed that on her chest was an ouroboros as Ed had described. Maes narrowed his eyes and carefully reached behind him to where he had his throwing knives stored. “Hello, ma’am,” he asked, “What may I do for you?”  
...  
“And you’re ready to go,” Yukio said, shuffling his papers as he entered the room.  
“You’re serious?” Rin said, tail wagging, “I can really leave?”  
“Yup,” Yukio said, “I pulled a few strings. So long as we’ll be staying in the same dorm, You’re allowed to leave.” Rin whooped in delight. Yukio pulled the sword out from under his arm. “Here,” he said, “They had this in storage for you. Get it back to the dorm.”   
“Alright,” Rin said as he got back into normal clothing. “Never thought I’d have to say it, but God, I’ve missed these!” Rin sighed as he put on his uniform. “I’ll see you later, Yukio,” he called.  
His brother nodded. “Remember to take those painkillers,” he called over his shoulder.  
Rin nodded before heading out. He walked out of the hospital and out onto the street. It was dark out as he stepped outside, the moon shining in the night sky. He began heading in the direction of the dorms, when a thought came to mind. Maes was going to stay late to work on researching what was going on at the Fifth Laboratory. Maybe it would cheer him up if he went over to his office to see him. Rin crossed the street and started heading in the direction of the investigation offices. He got close to the door when he noticed something: he smelled iron in the air. He looked down and saw a trail of blood leading away from the door. It was small, but still visible. He could see it going into the building. Rin’s eyes widened. Rin pushed through the doors of the investigation office to see more on the floor and over by the telephone.   
He ran up to the receptionist’s desk where a very worry looking woman sat. “Why is there blood? What happened?” he demanded, slamming his hands on the desk.  
The woman was startled by this and gave him a fearful look. “It was the Lieutenant Colonel!” she said, “He came down the stairs bleeding from his arm and when I asked him what was wrong, he told me nothing. He tried to use the telephone before deciding against it for some reason to go outside. I think he might have been heading towards the infirmary so I didn’t stop him, but I don’t know….”  
Rin’s eyes widened in surprise. Uncle Hughes had been injured?! By who?! Rin’s fists clenched in anger. He nodded and ran out the door. He began following the small trail of blood down the sidewalk. As he did, he noticed the spots got slightly bigger. His brow furrowed in worry. Just how much blood had Hughes lost?!  
Rin started running as fast as he could. He screech to a halt, however, as he looked in confusion at the scene meters away. His uncle was standing in a phone booth, brandishing a throwing knife. He looked on in shock at the person standing in front of him holding him at gunpoint. Rin was equally confused as the person looked identical to Aunt Gracia. But that didn’t make any sense! The two loved each other with all their hearts and Gracia didn’t have a mean bone in her body. Rin felt like he was in some sort of strange dream. He wanted to do something but his mind had frozen in shock. However, he had quickly snapped out it when-  
BANG!  
“NOOOO!” Rin screamed as his Uncle dropped like a leaf. Rin’s heart stopped as he watched it happen. Everything seemed to stop as he fell to the ground. Rage, horror, despair, and panic tore through him like a wild tempest. He was shaking, almost causing him to drop his sword. “Uncle…”he whispered. He stood there for a moment, eyes glued to his fallen uncle before looking up at the one who had shot him. His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing again in hatred. “You!” He growled.  
The perpetrator was now staring back at him, having lost his disguise from the surprise of Rin’s sudden outburst. The figure was in a crop top and a skort. His eyes were purple and his his long hair looked like wilted palm fronds. The homunculus opened his mouth as if to say something when Rin suddenly lunged at him, drawing his sword. “Shit!” he hissed, dodging the blade by an inch. He backflipped out of the way and landed in a crouch. “What the hell?!” the homunculus cried, “How are you here?! You were still in the hospital this morning!”  
Rin didn’t answer his question. “You shot him!” He snarled, trying to slash at him again, “You shot my uncle! You monster….I’LL KILL YOU!” An unyielding rage burned inside Rin as he continued to try and hack and slash at Envy. The homunculus twisted and lept out of the way as he continued his furious assault. Flames spewed everywhere as Envy narrowly avoided each attack.   
“Shit! How is he able to move so fast?!” he thought as he dodged the blade again. For a moment he felt a pang of fear as he saw the unholy fury burning in Rin’s eyes. Envy flipped out of the way to create some distance. Rin began to charge at him again. The homunculi smirked as he got an idea. “Well I know one way to slow him down,” he thought.   
When Rin was mere feet away from him, Envy was suddenly engulfed in red lightning as he quickly shapeshifted. Rin’s eyes widened and he froze as he now looked upon his brother’s fearful expression. Envy then smirked and took the opportunity to kick him in the stomach. Rin fell onto his back and skidded across the pavement. “Heh…” he gloated, “Even as a demon you’ll still fall for the same tricks a human-”   
The homunculus was cut off mid-gloat as Rin swung his sword through the air, creating a huge burst of blue flames. It was too fast to dodge, and Envy cried out as it burned his right arm. He clutched as he tried to force it to heal but it wouldn’t. He looked over to Rin who was getting up, his vengeful, piercing demonic eyes now once again set on Envy. As he began to charge again, the homunculus acted quickly. He shifted his unscathed arm into that of his true form and thrusted it at the spawn of Satan at a breakneck pace. It slammed into him and sent him flying. His body slid into the phone booth and knocked into Hughes’ body. Envy used this opportunity to run away as fast as he could.  
Rin pulled himself up, baring his teeth, preparing to continue fighting, but was disappointed to see that Envy was gone. His fists shook. He hadn’t even been able to avenge his dear Uncle. Tears started to form in his eyes. He could have stopped him if he had just acted sooner, he could have bought Maes Hughes some time to either run or attack on his own. He felt absolutely useless. He growled and kicked the side of the phone booth in anger and despair, causing it to dent and shake...and also causing Maes to stir slightly. Rin’s eyes were wide as he turned around sharply to see his Uncle breathing shallowly. He was alive! He could have lept for joy at that moment...if it weren’t for the fact that Maes’ life was quickly slipping away.  
Rin began to panic. Blood was pouring out of him quickly as it seeped from the bullet hole in his shoulder and he didn’t have a first aid kit, let alone any training. Then he remembered something. He remembered his father once telling him how he had healed a comrade’s wound by burning it closed. Rin looked at his hands, which burned brightly with blue flames before looking at Hughes. Would he be able to…? What if he ended up burning him to a crisp instead? He didn’t have his ignition gloves to be able to control the blaze.  
Rin steeled his gaze. He had to at least try. Rin leaned down over his uncle’s body. He placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his right arm. Rin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry, Uncle Hughes...this is going to hurt a lot, but it’s for your own good, “ he said before conjuring his flames the man cried out in pain before passing out as Rin cauterized the wound.   
Rin pulled away and breathed a sigh of relief as the bleeding had stopped. He still needed to get him to a hospital though. Rin carefully lifted the man, picked up the sword, and carried him swiftly back to the hospital.  
….  
Yukio was having a quiet evening. He finished setting up his new desk and was ready to head back to the dorms where Rin was most likely waiting for him where he’d have to force him awake to remind him to take those pain killers. He stood up, preparing to leave, when all of a sudden, Rin kicked in the door, breaking it clean off it’s hinges. “Yukio! I need your help!”he cried.   
Yukio fell back in surprise, hitting the back of his head on his desk chair. “Grrr...What the hell Rin?”he hissed, squinting his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head. He then glared at Rin...Only for his eyes to widen with horror at what he saw. “WHAT THE HELL RIN?!” Yukio screamed as he looked at his brother.   
His hands were covered with blood as was his uniform, which was slightly torn up. And that wasn’t even acknowledging the biggest elephant in the room of him dragging in Maes Hughes’ body, desperately pressing his hand into the back of his shoulder. “Rin, what is going on?!” Yukio said, “What did you do to our Uncle?!”   
“No time for long explanations,” Rin said quickly and desperately, “He got shot by one of the freaks from the lab. I healed his wound but forgot about the exit wound. Please. help. me!!!”  
Yukio blinked before nodding. “Keep the wound under compression,” he said as he began to draw a circle on the ground. Rin did so as his brother pulled out a large sheet of butcher paper from the examination bed. He drew the alkahestry circle and star in ink on it before shoving several scalpels into it. “Bring him over,” Yukio ordered. Rin did so and Yukio placed his hands on the circle. Blue lightning shot forth from the circle and converged around Maes’ body. It stitched the wound on his shoulder, as well as fixed the sloppy cauterization Rin had done. Yukio removed his hands and Rin breathed a sigh of relief.   
“Good…” Rin breathed pressing a hand to his chest, “He’s alright now...Everything’s alright now…”  
“Not quite,” Yukio said, checking the man’s neck for a pulse, “He lost a lot of blood. He needs a transfusion soon or he’s going to die.” Yukio turned to Rin. “Rin I need you to go down to the blood bank in the basement and get a bottle labeled O positive while I set up an IV for him, stat,” he ordered. Rin saluted him before running off.  
….  
Rin sat across from Maes’ sleeping form, His sword gripped firmly in his hands as he rested his chin on the hilt. He couldn’t say how scared he had felt when his Uncle first fell over into that phone booth. He thought he had died. He thought he had lost yet another person he had cared deeply for and would never see him again, like Nina and Shiro. And once again it would have been his fault.  
Yet here he was. Lying in a hospital bed. Unconscious, but alive. And because of him no less. It was funny really. He had always wanted to use his flames to be a hero, but he never expected he would use them to heal someone. While it was true he had saved people before, it had never been when they were on the brink of death. Someone was still alive because he had satanic powers. It made Rin’s mouth turn up in a smile slightly. He continued to carefully watch the man breath in and out as he slept, as if expecting it to stop at any moment. His gaze only shifted when Yukio entered the room.  
“Alright,” he said before yawning, “I called Gracia and let her know what had happened. She was unsurprisingly scared and worried at first, but wanted me to tell you how thankful she was when I told her you saved him.”   
Rin smiled. “Hey, I couldn’t just leave him there now could I?” He asked before turning back to watching Hughes.  
Yukio raised an eyebrow. “Are you...guarding him?” He asked.   
“Yeah…” Rin said, “The person who attacked him was a shapeshifter. I can’t leave him alone to anyone incase the guy comes back.”  
Yukio smirked. “I think he’ll be fine if we lock the door and call on security,” he said, “You need your sleep. Come on.”  
“You know, that’s exactly the kind of thing a shapeshifter looking to kill him would say,” Rin responded, voice more like a light observation than an accusation, but with an ultimately serious undertone to it.  
Yukio raised an eyebrow. “Oh come on, Rin,” Yukio said in annoyance, “You wouldn’t trust your own brother?”  
Rin paused. “I saw him turn into you,” he simply said.   
Yukio faltered before giving him an understanding look. Seeing that must have messed with his head more than he cared to admit. “Alright then,” he said, “You guard him, and I’ll stay in my room down the hall for the night. But I promise you, I’m the real Yukio. After all, who else knows you used to play dress up pretending to be dad?”  
Rin turned to him before smiling. “Ok, I trust you,” he said. But still, seeing Envy so seamlessly turn into Yukio...it bothered him greatly. Would he do that again the next time they had a run in? Had he ever done it before to get information from him? The thought scared him. Rin then nodded and Yukio wished him goodnight before stepping out the door and heading down to his office. He lied down on the examination table for a nap.   
A few hours later, he got up. He walked down the hall again and unlocked the door to Maes’ room where he found Rin asleep in the same position as where he had been before, still clutching his sword. Yukio draped a blanket over his shoulders before sitting down next to him and pulling out his gun. He cocked it and kept his eyes trained on the door as he helped Rin keep watch.


	15. Healing Temptant

“Rin? Rin!” Yukio called. His brother’s head bobbed as he woke up.   
“Zuh?” he uttered as he rapidly blinked his eyes. He looked around, processing his environment slowly. “Where…” he started before remembering the events of the previous night. He suddenly sat up straight. “Uncle Hughes!” he gasped as he looked towards his bed.  
“He’s fine, Rin,” Yukio assured, “I stayed up to make sure of that after you nodded off.”  
Rin blinked in surprise. “You stayed up all night? How are you not dead right now?!” he marveled.  
Yukio held up a cup of coffee. “I had a short nap, but it’s mostly thanks to this little miracle,” he said.  
“How many cups did you have?” Rin asked. Yukio held up three fingers and his brother whistled. “You’re going to be wrecked later today!” he teased.  
“At least I don’t look it yet,” Yukio responded, “You’re still covered in blood. Unless you’re planning on getting mobbed by nurses every five minutes, and not in the way you’d actually like, you really should change out of that uniform.” Yukio tossed him an outfit. “There should be a bathroom across the hall.” Rin nodded before getting up. He was about to drag his sword along with him when his brother stopped him “Rin, leave the sword,” he said.  
His brother stopped and cocked an eyebrow. “Why?” he asked.  
“Well I doubt anyone would appreciate you walking around a hospital visibly armed,” Yukio responded crossing his arms.  
Rin blinked. “Oh...Right…” he said, before handing off the sword to his brother, “Can I have money for the the snack bar though? I’m starving.” Yukio nodded and handed him about 500 cenz. With that, Rin headed out into the hall.  
Yukio watched him leave before turning to Maes as he heard him let out a soft moan in his sleep. He shifted slightly under the sheets, causing the teen to grin slightly. Looks like he would be waking up soon.  
…..  
Maes’ eyes opened as he groaned in pain. His shoulder and arm slightly ached. He sat up and blinked at the bright light surrounding him. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked around at his surroundings. He was confused to find himself in a hospital bed room. He scrunch his brow together as he tried to remeber how he got here. He had been in his office, and he just had a breakthrough when that woman walked in and attacked him. Then he went to call Mustang when that…shapeshifter…showed up and shot--  
Maes’ eyes widened. He reached his hand up to where he had been shot, and was confused to find no wound there. There wasn’t even a bandage. It was still sore to the touch, but it felt more like a bruise than a bullet wound. He knew what a bullet wound felt like. He had been shot once before in Ishval.  
Maes tried to focus on what happened the night before. He should have been dead within thirty minutes of being shot. It was highly unlikely that someone had just stumbled upon him soon enough within that time frame to be able to help him. No, someone would had to have immediatly helped him...but who? He doubted that shapeshifter had done anything but left him for dead…  
“Good to see you’re awake, uncle,” a voice spoke up. Maes’ head snapped up to see Yukio standing infront of him holding a cup of coffee.  
A smile graced his face. “Good to see you, Yukio,” he said, “Have you come to visit me? Seems pretty early in the morning for that.”  
“Actually I’ve been here all night,” he explained, “I transfered to this infirmery last night and when Rin dragged you in here saying you had gotten shot by someone. I decided to stay and watch over you.  
Maes blinked in surprise. But then he remebered that Rin had been there. He remembered hearing his voice and seeing him attack the homunculus while covered in blue-  
Maes’s eyes widened. His head then whipped around to face Yukio agian. “Yukio, where’s Rin?” he questioned. Yukio looked confused. “He was on fire when he attact the person who shot me! Is he alright?” He questioned.  
Yukio blinked and his lips became a tight line. Rin had opened his sword infront of Maes. That wasn’t good. Thank goodness that he couldn’t see anything but the flames however. “Don’t worry!” Yukio said, forcing himself to smile, “Rin’s fine. That was only a new alchemy trick he’s been working on. He’s actually in the building right now. He should be coming back soon.” Maes’ brow furrowed but he nodded.  
….  
Rin felt much more awake after grabbing that mufffin. He headed back to Maes’ room. Maybe he was awake now...or Yukio might have some news as to how he was doing. Rin entered the room, delighted to see his uncle was awake and chatting with Yukio. “Hey guys!” he said, catching there attention.   
Yukio smiled at his brother’s entrence...but Maes didn’t. His stared at Rin, or at least the person who looked a lot like him. He had the same hieght, build, and general face shape, but this was definetly not Rin. It was the shapeshifting homunculus. He could tell because little details were off. His eyes were different, and when he smiled Maes could see sharp pointed teeth. Plus he didn’t have Rin’s ignition gloves. Maes didn’t see them here and had to have had them if he had used flame alchemy to fight the homunculus from the night before.  
Maes tensed up. He was back to finish the job, and possibly kill Yukio too for knowing what had happened. Maes’ hands clenched into fists. He could only imagine what he had already done to Rin, or maybe he planned on pinning the murder on him. Maes could practically feel himself about to explode with rage.  
Yukio didn’t seem to notice as he greeted his “brother”. “Hey Rin! Glad you’re back,’’ he said, “Uncle Hughes was worried about you a little earlier. Isn’t that right?” Both boys turned to look at Hughes, expeccting him to respond, but were surprised to find him staring at Rin with a very cross expression.  
Rin knit his brown together. “Hey are you alright?” he asked, taking a step forward. At this Hughes suddenly moved. He grabbed Yukio’s gun that had been sitting on the table and pointed it at Rin. Both boys practically jumped back in surprise as Rin’s hands flew into the air. “What the hell?!” he cried, “What is wrong with you?! Put that down!”  
“Uncle Hughes, what are you doing?!” Yukio snapped, “What are you doing?! Why are you trying to shoot Rin?!”  
“That’s not Rin, Yukio,” Hughes growled, “He’s a homunculus disguised as him!”  
Rin blinked in surprise. “What?” He questioned, “No I’m not a homunculus! I brought you here and saved your life. Look at me! I am Rin!”  
“Nice try,” Hughes said, with a smirk, “But your disguise is worse than your impression of Lueteniant Ross. You’re off on Rin’s eye color and he doesn’t have sharp teeth!” Rin and Yukio both blanched at that, eyes widening.  
Yukio was inwardly panicing. How could he see Rin’s demon atributes? No normal human could see those things. Had something else happened to him yesterday? At what other point would he have had the chance to get wounded by a….Yukio inwardly face palmed. Rin cauterized his wounds with demon flames.  
“Tell me what you did with the real Rin!” Hughes demanded, cocking the gun, “answer me!”  
“I am the real Rin!” He insisted.   
“Stop lying to me!”   
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Yukio shouted stepping in front of Maes and the gun. “Put the gun down now, Hughes!”  
“Yukio, get out of the way! He’s going to kill you!” Hughes insisted.  
“He’s not going to kill me because he’s not a homunculus!” Yukio said before looking over his shoulder, “Rin, prove it!”   
“How am I supposed to do that?” He snapped.  
“Say something only you would know, idiot!” Yukio retorted.  
“Ok! Ok!” he shouted, “Ummmm...Oh! I know! When you first met us you thought we were related to our Dad and you called us ‘Roylings’.”  
Maes blinked in surprise and lowered the gun. He really was Rin. Then his brow knit together in confusion. “But then...Why do you look different?” He asked.  
Yukio and Rin shared a look. “Should we tell him?’ Rin asked.  
“Does it look like we have much of a choice?” his brother responded.  
“Tell me what?”Maes questioned, “What are you boys talking about?”  
“I’m...Not exactly human,” Rin explained.  
“I thought you just said you weren’t a homunculus,” Maes responded in confusion.  
“I’m not, but…” Rin started before growling, “I think it’d be better if I just showed you. Yukio, can I have the sword?” Yukio nodded before handing it to him and going over to lock the door. He then walked back to where he had been sitting before. “Ok,” Rin said, “now don’t freak out.” He then pulled the sword from its sheath. Rin was suddenly covered in flames. His ears and fingernails elongated and his tail unwrapped from under his clothing and swung through the air, the end covered in a deep blue blaze.  
Maes’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “How…”he started, “did you do that? You don’t have your ignition gloves! And...You have a tail!”   
“As he said, he’s not human,” Yukio explained, “Those are not ordinary flames. They’re supernatural.”  
“Supernatural?” Maes repeated, mind completely boggled by the thought.   
“Yeah well, dad told you we were from another world right?” Rin said, “Well, instead of having alchemy in that world, we have demons...and well, I’m half one.”   
Maes eyes widened in realisation. When Roy had told him their biological father was a monster, he meant it literally. But this created so many new questions. “Wait…” He said, “if this is true then why don’t you look like this all the time? Why have I never seen you like this before? And why doesn’t Yukio look the same as you?”  
Rin and Yukio glanced at each other. “I think we should start from the beginning,” he said, “Our mother was human but our father was a being known as Satan, the king of all demons. Shiro found us after we were born. He was an exorcist, someone who hunts and kills demons, but he decided to take us in.” Maes raised an eyebrow at this. “I was born completely human, while Rin inherited the power of the blue flames. To protect him from other exorcists, Shiro sealed away his powers inside the Koma sword.” He gestured to Rin’s sword.  
“How does that work?” Maes questioned.  
“Honestly, we have no idea,” Rin said, “But anyways, to continue with the story, that worked up until I was seven, and then I started having problems. Sometimes I would accidently catch things on fire. Then an exorcist found out and that's how we ended up here.” “My powers were still sealed away though, so I still remained mostly human… until a few days ago…” Rin explained, “At lab five, I ended up have to open the sword to save my own skin. Shou was possessed by a demon named Astaroth and he was coming after me because he knew what I was. He took away my gloves so I didn’t have a choice.”  
Mae’s brow furrowed. “But I saw you after lab five,” he argued, “You didn’t have a tail or anything like that!”  
“That’s because you were still just a normal human,” Yukio explained, “You couldn’t see demons but now you can because Rin gave you a temptant.”  
“What’s a temptant?” He questioned.  
“It’s a supernatural wound caused by a demon. Without it, you can’t see demons,” Yukio explained, “Rin gave you one when he cauterised your wounds.”  
Maes nodded in understanding. It was funny, he supposed this could be considered a curse, and yet it had saved his life. And, he supposed it brought him closer to the boys, seeing as now he could understand them better. Still there was a question on his mind. “Who else has one?” He asked.  
“Well not many people,” Yukio explained, “Demons aren’t exactly common around here. So fewer people have wounds from them. Right now, It’s just me, Dad, and the Elric brothers that we know of. Rin doesn’t need one because he is a demon.”  
Mae’s brow knit together in worry. “How did you get a temptant?” he asked. He really hoped nothing terrible had happened to him.  
“I was born with it,” he explained, “Rin burned me when we were born on accident.” Rin gave an apologetic shrug.  
Maes relaxed slightly. “Is that how Roy got his too?” he asked, “If you don’t mind me asking.” He could imagine the boy accidentally burning him slightly during a lesson on flame alchemy.  
“No, he got his when he met Shiro,” Yukio explained, “He was attacked by a ghoul.   
Maes frowned. Roy had told him it was some kind of chimera that had attacked his group. This bothered him, but what bothered him more was that the Elric brothers had wounds too. “What about the Elric brothers?” He asked.  
Both of the brothers glanced at each other before looking away. “We’re not sure, but we think it has to do with how they lost their bodies,” Rin said.  
“We think because the portal of truth isn’t a human force, it can still cause temptants,” Yukio said, “But they aren’t aware of demons yet…”  
“What? How can they not be aware?” Maes questioned.  
“Well as we said, demons are rare. No one really is supposed to know they exist here,” Yukio said.  
“Plus, we never told them about them…” Rin added a bit sheepishly.  
“You haven’t told them?!” Maes said angrily, “But they have a right to know! What if they see something and no one else can so they think they’re going crazy? You can’t let them live like that!”  
Rin and Yukio’s shoulders slumped shamefully. “We know but we don’t think they’ll believe us unless we show them who I really am,” Rin said, “ And if I show them...I’m worried I’ll scare them away…” “When I found out what Tucker did to Nina, I completely flipped, and I know I scared the crap out of the both of them…” He said, closing his eyes, “even you looked a bit frightened just now when I pulled out the sword.” It was one of his biggest fears that he would one day scare away Ed and Al. They were some of the first true friends he had ever had, and there was a possibility he could lose them at any time.  
There was a silence in the air. Maes stared at the boy across from him with a sympathetic look. Then he smiled at him. “Rin, I wasn’t scared of you,” he said, causing the boy’s head to shoot up and his eyes to open widely, “I was surprised, sure, but not scared. I could never and will never be scared of you Rin, and I doubt Ed and Al will be either. And do you know why?”  
Rin blinked and shook his head “no”. “Because they know you aren’t a monster, just like I do,” he said, “Now come here, both of you.” The boys tentatively did so and he pulled the both of them into a hug. “It doesn’t matter who you are related to. You both are amazing and kind boys, do you understand me?” He said, “You two have done so many wonderful things: You were there for Gracia when I couldn’t be, you’ve helped make the lives of others better all over the country, and now, I owe you both my life. If someone knows that about you, and is still willing to judge you by your origins, then they weren’t worth your time in the first place, got it?”  
Both boys smiled as he let go of them. “Got it,” they said together.   
“Good!” he said, patting them on the back. He smiled at both of them, but it quickly turned to a frown. “I am upset with you though,” he said, causing them to give concerned looks, “You two didn’t tell me about this for almost seven years! I would have hoped you would have known me better than to think I would react so poorly.” Though if he were honest, he was more upset with Roy for not telling him. He of all people should have known he would have reacted with understanding.  
They both looked relieved. “Sorry…” Rin said, “We’ll be sure to keep you better informed on this stuff.”  
“Good,” Maes said with a nod. “Hey Yukio, do you think you could grab me something from the cafeteria? I skipped dinner last night while I was working and now I feel like I could pass out again from hunger,” he joked.  
Yukio smiled and nodded. “I’ll go get you something and let the nurses know you’re awake now,” he said before heading off.  
Maes smiled as he headed out the door, before turning to Rin with a serious look on his face. “Rin….” he said, “I need you to tell me exactly what happened in lab 5. Anything you may have left out. I need to know.” “I’ve discovered a lot on what they might be up to, but I have to figure out where Shou fits in. The fate of Amestris may hang in the balance here,” he said.  
Rin blinked before nodding. “I don’t know if you’ll want to hear about it, but ok…” Rin said.


	16. Second Chances

“You let him get away?! Without going back to finish him off?!” Pride snarled, “You idiot! You had one simple job!”  
“Hey! Back off!” Envy hissed still rubbing the burn mark, “It’s not my fault the brat showed up. YOU should have warned me he left the hospital!” His had yet to start healing, but Lust’s finally did. Granted the healing process was a horribly slow, human one. However it was even worse for Envy, any time he shapeshifted the burn would still be there.  
“You could have simply shot him in the head, fool,” Astaroth growled, “It would have been over with quickly then.”  
“Or you could have done a better job of restraining the kid!” Envy snapped, turning on Astaroth, “Then we’d have both him and the pipsqueak under our thumb, and everyone would have just thought they had died in a building collapse. There would be no investigation, no nosy fullmetalling, and no demon fire spewing brat to worry about!”  
The demon was quiet for a moment. The air was thick with an eerie silence. For a moment, envy thought he had won the argument. However, moments later he realised how sorely mistaken he was when long tendrils of mycelium fibers grabbed his arms and legs and force him to the ground before contorting him in a sickening fashion. Envy cried out in pain as they continued to tug on his limbs. The demon slowly approached him, glaring down at the homunculus. Pride did not move to stop him. He watched with wide eyes filled with intrigue and slight apprehension.  
“Do you want to run that by me again,” he hissed, “Or do you want to avoid having your skin being eaten away slowly, because I’d really enjoy testing out some of the more exotic parasites in my arsenal.” He extended one finger out towards Envy’s face, a dark substance encasing it.  
Envy tried to shrink away from it, only to be contorted more. “GAHHH! OK I TAKE It BACK!” he shouted as he tried to squirm. Astaroth chuckled darkly before releasing him.  
“Remember, I am thousands of years your senior and hold power you cannot imagine. Show some respect,” he growled. “But I suppose I can’t entirely blame you for your blunder…” The demon king said with a smirk, “It is always more fun to toy with prey and watch it suffer than kill it instantly.” Envy glared at him as he walked away, but quickly lowered his gaze when he glanced back. “Still...this is going to complicate things…” Astaroth muttered, “Father will not be happy…”  
The room was silent for a moment. “We still may have a chance to stop him…” Pride said, catching their attention, “After all, there’s more than one way to silence a man like him…Though I doubt with that burn Envy would be of any use. So would you mind lending us your services?”  
Astaroth grinned at him. “What do you need?” He asked.  
….  
To say Roy was worried was an understatement. When Maes used an emergency line and just hung up like that, he knew something was wrong. He attempted contacting Gracia, and she said he was still at work. He attempted contacting Yukio at the hotel he had been staying at as well as the dorms, but neither said he was there. He tried contacting the hospital for Rin, but it had said he had checked out already. He had trouble sleeping that night. What had Hughes gotten himself into? Was he alright? And where were Rin and Yukio. It wasn’t until 10 AM the next morning that he got any peace of mind.  
He was working at his desk when all of a sudden he got a call. “Hello? This is Colonel Mustang speaking,” he answered.  
“Hey Dad,” Yukio responded.  
Mustang’s eyes widened. “Yukio? Where were you last night?I was trying to get ahold of you,” he said.  
“Sorry Dad,” he said, “I was finishing up my transfer to this hospital. It took a little while. Why were you trying to call?”  
“Something happened last night to your uncle,” he explained, “I don’t know what happened, but he called on an emergency line and then just hung up.”  
“Ah...Yes….” Yukio said, “About that…we know what happened. Uncle Hughes was attacked at a phone booth last night.”  
Mustang froze and his blood ran cold. Attacked?! “Is he alright?” Mustang demanded.   
“He’s fine now,” Yukio responded, letting his father breath a sigh of relief, “Rin saved him but…”  
“But what, Yukio?” Mustang said, worry creeping back into him. Was there some kind of complication?  
“Well, his encounter involved demons…” his son explained, “He’s got a temptant now. We had to explain to him everything.”  
Oh.  
Well then. That certainly counted as a complication.  
Roy sighed. “That’s still much better than being dead,” he said into the phone. He should be thankful. Infact he was very thankful. Without Rin, his best friend could be gone right now. It was a chilling thought that he had almost lost someone so close to him. He couldn't imagine what he would have done. “Yukio can you tell Rin how grateful I am?” Roy said, “Or is he still around the hospital?”  
“He’s here, let me get him for you,” Yukio said. He stepped into Maes’ room where the two were chatting up a storm. “Rin?” he called, “Dad wants to speak with you.” The boy nodded and headed into the other room to take phone.  
A few moments later when the door creaked open again. Yukio looked up, expecting to see Rin standing there, but instead it was Gracia and Elicia. Gracia stood in the doorway, teary eyed. And Elicia was smiling brightly at her side. “Daddy!” She cried.  
Maes looked up at them and smiled. “Hey girls!” he said, “Sorry I couldn’t make it home last night. I had a few...complications.”  
“Oh Maes!” Gracia cried as she rushed forward and hugged her husband. Tears of relief streamed down her face as she kissed him repeatedly. Elicia also hopped up onto the hospital bed to tackle her daddy.   
“Hey it’s alright you two!” he tried to comfort them as he wrapped his arms around them, “I’m fine, see? Nothing to worry about…”  
“Idiot!” Gracia cried, “You were shot! We could have lost you…” She squeezed him tighter.  
“But you didn’t!” Maes said, “Come on, did you really think you’d get rid of me that easily? Nah, I’m clinging to you guys as long as I can.” His voice became serious as he squeezed them tighter. “I promise, I’ll fight and scream and kick my way out of death if it means staying with you,” he whispered as he helps them close and gave them both a kiss on the cheek.  
Gracia eventually let go of her husband and turned towards Yukio, still sniffling. “Thank you, you and your brother both,” she said, “When I got a call from Mustang asking if I knew where my husband was without an explanation of why, I was scared. He told me he was just making a casual call, but he sounded worried, so I assumed something bad had happened. And when you called from the hospital with bad news, I thought he had died, and he would have if it wasn’t for you! Oh thank you Yukio!” She stepped forward and hugged him, “You two are miracle workers!”   
Yukio smiled and hugged her back. “You’re welcome, Aunt Gracia,” he said, “It was nothing really. We weren’t about to let him die. He is our uncle after all!”  
“Still it means a lot to me,”she said, “Now get your brother in here, I need give him a hug too.”   
“Alright,” he said, “Hey Rin! Get in here!”  
“Kay!” he shouted back before saying goodbye to Roy. When he entered the room, Gracia immediately hugged him. “Come here you!”she said, “I don’t know how you came acrossed him, but I am so very grateful that you did!” She then kissed his head before letting him go.  
“Aww, it was nothing!” Rin said, adoring the attention.  
“It was not nothing!” She insisted, “You saved my husband’s life!”  
“She is right,” Maes said, “A life isn’t nothing. You boys should be proud of yourselves.”  
“Ya!” Elicia chirped, “Thank you for making daddy all better!”  
“I propose we celebrate,” Gracia said clapping her hands together, “As soon Maes is out of the hospital, I’ll cook you boys something really delicious.”  
“Really?” Rin asked, eyes lighting up and tail wagging, “Awesome!”  
“That sounds wonderful,” Yukio said, “Thank you.”  
“It’s our pleasure!” She said, “By the way, when will he be able to leave?”  
“I should be able to get him out by the end of the day,” Yukio said, “With my alkahestry, I was able to heal him almost entirely. I just need to figure out something for himself to apply for what’s left of his burns.” Gracia nodded, before Yukio continued. “Just to warn you though, my shifts will run fairly late,” he explained, “I will come straight after to eat whatever leftovers you may have.”  
Gracia pursed her lips. She would have wanted to wait for him, but if his shift went passed seven, she couldn’t make Elicia wait that long to eat, as her bedtime was at eight. “Alright,” she said, “But we will wait to have dessert until you get there.”  
“Fair enough,” Yukio said with a smile.  
….  
It had been several days since Scar had awakened in the slums he had been brought to by his fellow Ishvalans. He had taken that time to rest and heal, and while he wounds eventually faded away, the strange visions had not. He still saw the strange floating black creatures that no one else could, and on occasion, he saw something akin to a green monkey head that had sprouted arms and feet messing with other’s property and breaking things. He did not know if these apparitions were real or not (they certainly seemed real), but he was sick of dealing with them. Maybe the old monk knew how to deal with them…  
He approached the man’s shanty and opened the curtain door slightly. “Come in, my child,” he said in his usual calm and gentle voice. Scar did so and sat in front of him. “You seem troubled. What is the matter?” the old man asked.  
Scar hesitated before speaking. “I have been having...strange visions,” he explained, “For the past several days I have seen strange things walking among us. No one else can see them, however, but I can touch them. I want to know anything about this.”  
The monk’s eyes widened. “When did this all begin?” he asked, “What happened just before this started?”   
“I was in a fight with a young state alchemist,” he explained. He left out the part that the boy was the host for the devil. He’d rather not tell the poor man that the destroyer had returned. There was no point in causing him to be afraid when there was no way for him to stop it.   
The man looked confused. “Are you sure this is what happened just before?” he asked, “did the boy not use alchemy to fight you?”  
Scar’s eyes became fixed on the monk. So he had seen something like this before, and the boy’s strange powers were infact the cause. “Yes,” he said, “The boy had strange, supernatural powers. I came out of the battle with him slightly wounded.”  
The monk nodded. “I’m afraid I know exactly what this is,” he said, “You have been gifted with the ‘eyes of the devil’: the ability to see demons and hidden monsters. Through the wounds you received from that child, your blood has been tainted with supernatural power, giving you this sight.”  
Scar growled. “So it is true,” he hissed, clenching his fists, “That hellspawn really has cursed me!”  
“You are looking at this too narrowly,” the man said, placing a hand on his shoulder, “It can also be seen as a blessing.” Scar gave him a curious look, begging for an explanation. The monk stood up and beckoned him to follow. Scar did so, and he lead him to a floor board that he lifted up to reveal a chest. He lifted it out and unlocked it. “Young man, do you know the story of how the destroyer and his followers disappeared?” he asked.  
Scar nodded. “They all vanished through the power of Ishvala,” he repeated what he had been told many times before.  
The monk smiled. “That is one way the story goes,” he responded as he opened the chest. Inside was a book and a bottle of oil. “But the truth is, while the destroyer mysteriously disappeared, his beasts did not,” he explained, “After the destroyer was gone, Ishvala sent powerful figures loyal to him from a realm beyond ours called ‘exorcists’ to vanquish them. They were lead by a valiant angel named Johann Faust to vanquish the beasts and rid our world of them.”   
“As they did so, they taught a select few clerics that had received the eyes of the devil how to defend themselves against these beasts should they ever return. Those men and women became known as ‘exwires’ as the exorcists had called them when they trained under them,” he continued, “It is an art that has been passed down for hundreds of years. When the Amestrians came and slaughtered our people, it was almost entirely lost...but I managed to save a few records. Though I myself was never an exwire, as I never received the gift, I was charged with preparing the defensive oil used for trapping demons, and so I was charged to protect this knowledge, but I feel it is time I pass it on to someone new. Someone like you, Scar.”  
He pushed the book and bottle of oil towards him. Scar stared down at them. “These things...will help me destroy demons?” he asked. Maybe they would even work on a particular demon...  
“Yes,” the monk said with a smile, “This book contain the techniques that have been used to ward off demons for generations, sometimes even kill them.” “Please,” he continued, “Very few have your abilities, my child. It would be a shame to waste them and let this information die.”  
Scar nodded and took them. “Very well,” he said, “I will use my newfound abilities to defend my people from the disciples of Shaitan.” ‘And Shaitan himself,’ he added silently.  
The man smiled warmly, hope shining in his eyes. “Thank you, Scar,” he responded, “For the first time in a long time, I can see Ishvala’s light shining upon us.”  
Scar nodded and bowed before leaving. He clutched the book in one hand and held the flask in the other. “Shaitan, you are a fool,” he said, “Your first mistake was to let me live, and the second was to give me this curse. These decisions will lead to your undoing.”  
….  
Gracia continued to chop up the vegetables before she added them to the stew. Rin would be here in a little while, and she knew if she didn’t have this finished, he would swoop in and try to take over. She knew cooking was the boy’s passion, but this was a dinner celebrating him! It wouldn’t really be celebrating if he ended up making it. As she slid the chopped onions into the soup, she swore she heard creaking from upstairs. She blinked for a moment. Elicia must have hopped onto her bed again. Gracia shook her head. Ever since Maes put together her new big girl bed, she loved using it to play pretend with all her toys. She claimed the design resembled a princess castle.  
She continued cooking, moving onto the potatoes. However, she didn’t get far before the creaking returned. Gracia looked up in confusion. What was that girl up to? She paused for a moment before it started up once again and continued in a rhythmic fashion. Gracia’s brow furrowed. Now she knew what was going on. Another habit the girl had started to develope since getting the bed was that she loved to jump on it. Gracia sighed. She set aside her cooking and marched towards the stairs. “Elicia, I know what you’re doing up there!” She hollered in a scolding, motherly tone, “You better cut it out immediately or you’re getting a timeout! We’ve told you a hundred times not to jump on the bed and this is your last warning. Now get down here before you hurt yourself.”  
The noise ceased and Gracia smiled to herself. That smile faded, however, as Gracia heard her daughter respond. “But mommy...I’m not jumping on anything! I’m right here!”the little girl said in confusion from behind her. Gracia’s eyes widened and she slowly turned to see her daughter in the living room playing with her dolls.  
Her brow knit together and her heart started to race. But if she was here, then what was…. Gracia glanced upstairs, a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. She returned to the kitchen and grabbed her carving knife before returning to the stairs. “Elicia, no matter what, I want you to stay down here, Ok?” she said. The little girl looked confused but nodded. With that, Gracia grabbed the banister and and began ascending the stairs to see who had decided it was a good idea to break into their house.


	17. The heaviest sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Blood

Rin whistled as he walked down the streets, sword slung over his shoulder and hands in his pockets. He decided to head over early so that he could help out and maybe sneak a few taste tests. He was really excited to be able to try some of his aunt’s food again. It had been quite a while since he’d had any. He hoped she was making a pot roast. He felt his mouth beginning to water his lips at the prospects of having one of her famous pot roasts, filled with beef and potatoes and carrots…  
He smiled all the way to the door, but as he reached for it, he heard a crash come from inside. Rin’s eyes widened. What was that? “Aunt Gracia?” He called as he opened the door, “Aunt Gracia are you-”   
Rin’s eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw before him: Gracia shaking, clutching a cleaver in one hand and cradling her daughter in the other as she gazed up in horror at a giant naberius looming over them. The creature was huge. It had two “heads” and an arm with an extra mouth attached to it. On the left side of its body were two clawed hands. It balanced on two legs and a long, dinosaur like tail. “S-stay away!” She stuttered, backing up, “Don’t come any closer!”  
Rin reached for his sword when he noticed the claw marks on Gracia’s right arm, as well as the knife embedded into the demon’s right neck. The beast must have attacked her and now she had a temptant. Elicia was unscathed however, and was trying to squirm, out of her mother’s grip. She looked up at Rin pleadingly. “Rin help!” She cried, “Something’s wrong with mommy! She won’t stop playing pretend!”  
At Elicia’s outburst, Gracia turned her head in surprise to see Rin standing in the doorway. “Rin stay back!” she cried, “Call the cops and AAHHHH!” The beast suddenly snatched them up into the air.   
“Yes, very good,” Pride whispered to the demon from its shadow, “Now incapacitate the boy and get out of here!”  
But before it could do anything, Rin acted. “LET THEM GO!” Rin shouted, charging forward and slashed the beast’s leg. It howled an unearthly moan and dropped the two. Gracia lifted herself up and checked Elicia before turning to Rin. Her eyes grew almost wider than before as she saw the boy fending off the beast. Could she even call him a boy? His ears were long and pointed and he had a tail sticking out from his body. On top of that, he was covered in unearthly blue flames!   
Gracia felt like she was dreaming. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing! “R-Rin?!” She questioned.  
The boy turned to look at her, distracted by her outburst. The naberius took this opportunity to swing one of it’s massive appendages at him, sending him flying across the room and into the closet, destroying the door.   
Elicia cried out in surprise and Gracia gasped. “Mommy! What’s going on?” She cried, “Why did Rin fly across the room? I’m scared!”  
“Rin!” Gracia cried. It didn’t matter now what he looked like. He had just been thrown across the room! He could be seriously injured. Gracia clung to her daughter as she tried to move across the room and aid her nephew, but she was scooped up by the creature. She screamed as they were lifted up into the air. Elisa was just extremely confused and clung to her mother for dear life.  
“Good!” Pride smirk, “Now take them and get out.” That was easier said than done, as Gracia wasn’t about to give up without a fight. She kicked and punched the beast as best she could irritating it. It swayed back and forth after she punched it in the face at one point, causing it to knock over a lamp. “Stop fooling around!” Pride hissed, “Incapacitate them already!” Pride’s shadow glanced over to the closet when it saw Rin getting up.  
The naberius did as it was commanded and breathed its foul breath over both of them. Gracia and Elicia’s eyes rolled back into their skulls and and they passes out from the noxious fumes. Gracia’s arms relaxed, causing Elicia to fall. The naberius caught her with it’s other left arm. Rin saw it heading for the back door as he finished pulling himself out of the broken door.  
His eyes filled with anger. He slipped on one of his ignition gloves. There was no way in hell he was letting that happen. “Get back here you coward!” he roared. He then charged the beast, and sliced off the arm holding Gracia. The demon screeched in anguish as black fluid spilled from the wound. Rin caught his aunt’s body before it hit the ground. He then placed her down and snapped his fingers, creating a protective ring of fire around her.   
“Damn it!” Pride growled, “Never mind! Now just take the girl and get out of here!”  
The naberius attempted to flee by kicking Rin and bolting, but the boy was back on his feet in seconds. He sliced off the creature’s other arm holding Elicia and grabbed her out of the air. “No! No! NO!” Pride shouted, “Get the girl back now you imbecile.”  
The naberius complied. The mouth-arm immediately latched onto Elicia’s leg, engulfing it up to her knee and biting down.  
Rin’s eyes widened in shock before narrowing again. “Let her go!” He demanded, pulling on his niece, “Get away from her you bastard!”  
The demon hesitated for a moment, wanting to comply with the dark prince, but then Pride stabbed its leg and shouted at it. “Don’t you dare let her go!” He snapped, “If you do, I will return you to to the rotten minced meat you once were!” The naberius heeded his warning and bit down harder.  
Rin could see blood starting to seep from the bite and he became furious. “I said, LET GO OF HER!” he roared as he snapped his finger and set one of the heads alite. The demon screamed in pain, but instead of letting go of the girl, it bit down harder….hard enough that the leg came off.  
Rin was sent flying back as he clutched Elicia’s body He stared down at it in horror. Elicia’s leg...it was gone. His sweet little cousin...below the knee of her left leg there was nothing. Rin’s fists began to shake. His eyes became red with fury. The blue flames already engulfing him grew in size. That monster…it did this to her. He slowly looked up at the beast across from him, his eyes void of everything except hate. His mind was full of nothing but a torrent of furious noise. “How dare you,” he snarled, “How dare you hurt her!” He didn’t know what he was doing, but he suddenly lunged at the beast and wrapped his hands around it’s neck. “BASTARD!” He shouted, and all of a sudden it was engulfed in blue flames. Pride slipped away before the flames could touch him, but the beast was not so lucky. It writhed and screeched in pain as the flames consumed it. It slowly fell to the floor and burned until there was nothing left.   
Rin stood over it, huffing and snarling. He wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to somehow hurt it more. That thing hurt her. It took her leg and marred her for life and…  
Rin’s eyes widened in realisation. It took her leg! She was bleeding out! Rin rushed over to her body and snapped his fingers to burn the wound close. He breathed a sigh of relief as it stopped, but it didn’t last long his relief soon turned to grief. Her leg was gone. She could never get it back. She was only three years old and it was gone! How could someone do something like this to a child?! He slammed his fist on the floor and extinguished the fires.   
The room was in shambles. Furniture had been tossed every where and pretty much anything glass had been broken. However, RIn had bigger things to worry about. He had to get them to the hospital. He picked up his sword and slung it over his back. He then he placed elicia in her mother’s arms and carefully picked the both of them up bridal style before heading back to the hospital. Rin’s brow furrowed as he did so. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to his uncle without him having a breakdown.  
Pride watched him from the shadows, glaring at the boy’s retreating form. He felt cold loathing bubble up inside him. That boy was lucky to have shown up when he did. Very, very lucky. Which made them extremely unlucky, for after this, there was not a chance the boy would let them get close to Maes or his family again.  
….  
Yukio finished up the paperwork to sign for Maes’ release from the hospital. He flipped through it until he came to the last signature. “Aaaaand…..” He said as he scribbled his initials, “You are out of here!” He handed the files over to Maes Hughes. “Get these down to the receptionist’s desk and sign at the bottom of the last page,” he said, “Then you can go ahead and head home.”  
His uncle smiled as he took them. “Thanks, kiddo,” he said, “You really are amazing with that alkahestry stuff. Maybe you could teach Elicia that one day! She’s already dreaming of being a doctor with her little first aid kit!...Along with a dancer, a lion tamer, and a princess…though I suppose to me she already is that last one!”  
Yukio chuckled. “Let’s let her narrow down her career choices first and then we'll see about teacher alkahestry,” he responded.  
“Well,” Maes said as he got up, “ I’ll be seeing you then!”  
“Try not to come back too soon!” Yukio called as Maes stepped into the hall. Maes nodded before starting to walk down the hall. He had a bright smile on his face. Even though he had just seen them this morning, he was happy that he was going to get to see his family again. He felt lucky to have them and lucky to be alive to see them again. He continued to smile as he walked down the hall….That is until heard the rolling of wheels. He looked up to see a nurse running down the hall while pushing a bed with a person inside it. Maes frowned in pity, but as it got closer, his eyes widened in horror as he saw who was in the bed: his wife.   
“Gracia?!” He questioned, as he froze in place.   
“Please get out of the way, sir!” the nurse said as they hurried down the hall.   
“But…” Maes started before out of the corner of his eye he saw another bed being pushed along. Maes turned and saw Rin was pushing it...and his heart sank as he saw a little girl lying in it. “ELICIA?!” Was all he could sputter as Rin passed him. Rin shot an apologetic look over his shoulder as he passed him. Maes was shaking. Tears started pricking at his eyes as his heart was clenched with fear. ‘No, this couldn’t be real,’ He thought, ‘this has to be some kind of dream.’ He pinched himself, hoping he had just fallen asleep in his hospital bed, but nothing happened. He felt horribly, horribly sick. His daughter...and his dear wife were both hurt, and by judging the urgency at which the nurse and Rin had been moving, it was bad.  
His head was swimming with thoughts. What had happened? Why had it happened?Who had hurt them? Maes’ fists clenched. There was only one way to find out. “ELICIA! GRACIA!” He called as he ran down the hall after them.  
….  
Yukio examined their bodies. This was not good, but it could have been a lot worse. He had been shocked when Rin and the nurse first dragged them in, but he quickly jumped into action, beginning to wrap up their wounds. “You said what kind of beast attacked them?” Yukio asked gravely as he worked on healing Elicia with alkahestry.  
“It was huge and looked like some kind of ghoul,” he explained, “It had two arms, two and a half heads, and a long tail. Also, it stank really bad.”  
“And it knocked them out as well as attacked them?” he asked.  
“Yeah. I don’t know why though…” Rin said.  
All of a sudden Maes burst into the room. He was panting and had a panicked look in his eyes. “Wha...What happened?” he demanded, “Where are they? Are they alright?”  
Yukio gave him a sorrowful look while Rin looked away. “They’re...Alive and stable,” Yukio said carefully.  
That only comforted Maes slightly. “What does that mean?” He asked as he gripped Yukio’s shoulders, “What’s wrong with them? What happened to them?”  
“I’m sorry!” He said, “But…”  
“They were attacked by a demon,” Rin spoke up, eyes not leaving the floor.  
Maes turned to him, his eyes filled with surprise.   
“What?” He whispered.  
“I got to your guy’s house and found a giant demon there attacking them,” Rin explained, not making eye contact, “I stopped it but not before it could do some damage.”  
Maes swallowed. “But I thought demons were rare?” He said turning to Yukio.  
“They are,” he said, “but there were a lot gathered in Lab five.”  
Maes fell into a chair. He hung his head. “How bad are they?” He asked quietly, “What’s going to happen to them?”  
“Uncle, don’t worry,” Yukio said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Both will be able to get back to living normally and be happy once I give them the proper treatment.”  
“Really?” Maes said, sitting up.  
“Yes…Gracia only received a small gash,” Yukio said before biting his lip, “However…There is something you need to know about Elicia.”  
Maes’ eyes darkened. “What?” He demanded, “What did that monster do to my little girl?!”  
Both boys looked away before Rin pulled back the cover that had been draped over the little girl. Maes stared at her. At first glance she looked fine, but as his eyes trailed down her tiny body, his mouth fell open in horror. There was only one leg peeking out of her fluffy, bloodstained skirt. “Elicia…” he whispered as he approached his bed and sat down next to her sleeping form. His mind was filled with a torrent of emotions. Guilt, horror, sorrow, anger, despair. He held her tiny perfect hand in his own and began crying. If he had been able to come home sooner, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Or maybe if he had died, this would never have happened at all.A terrible thought creeped into his mind. If this thing that attacked her really was from lab five, like that homunculus, then it was probably purposefully sent after his family. They were hurt because of his damn snooping. He squeezed his tiny daughter’s hand tightly. She was was hurt because of him, when he promised to be there for her and keep her safe.   
When he thought about it, he felt like an idiot. Of course they would have gone after his family next. Even before he had gotten shot that had been an option. To keep him quiet, they could have threatened to do something horrible to them. He was LUCKY they had gone after him first. If they had taken his family from him...he didn’t know what he would have done. He had been so blind and stupid…And now they had paid the price.   
Who knows what kind of horrible pain his wife was in, but now his daughter couldn’t walk. She couldn’t dance. She couldn’t stand on her tippy toes and give him that look she always gave him when she really wanted something. Even if he got her the world’s best prothstetics, it still didn’t make him feel better. What if when she goes to school the children make fun of her for not having a real leg? What if boys tell her she’s ugly and she can’t find someone who loves her and sees how wonderful she is? What if she gets held back from participating in sports she wants to be apart of? What if she starts thinking she’s worthless because she’s been handicapped? Maes felt absolutely horrible. The worst part was, that those monsters could always come back to finish the job, and if they used demons he had no way to stop them. All this made him just so frustrated and angry.  
Rin and Yukio looked upon their uncle with pity. “Uncle?” Rin said as he sat down next to him and placed a hand on his back, “It’s going to be ok. They’re going to be fine. You’ll see!”  
“Yeah,” Yukio said, “Gracia will heal quickly and Elicia is still very young. It will be easier for her to adapt to a prosthetic and I’m sure we can find you something pretty cheap through the Rockbell's. And when she’s older, she can get automail and have better mobility through that.”  
Maes bit back a nasty comment he wanted to shout out of frustration and simply nodded. Yukio was just trying to help and in a way, he was right. Elicia was always a strong girl. She had learned to walk once, she could probably do it again in no time flat. And if the kids out there didn’t like her for her prothstetic, then they weren’t worth his daughter’s time in the first place. Still that didn’t stop him from worrying about her.   
And it didn’t stop him from worrying about demons either.   
“Rin, what happened to the demon that attacked them?” He asked, voice low.  
Rin blinked. “It’s gone,” he assured, “I destroyed it.”  
Maes frowned but nodded gratefully. He was glad Rin had gotten rid of that monster, but at the same time a little jealous. He part of him wanted to do it himself.   
Rin misinterpreted his frown. “Uncle, is there something wrong with that?” He asked.  
Hughes forced a smile. “No,” he said, “I can’t tell you how appreciative I am for all you’ve done but…” He looked down and frowned. “I don’t know how I’m going to protect them,” he said, “if those monsters come back for them or me, I don’t know what’ll do. I’m just a human after all.”  
“Don’t worry!” Rin said, “We’ll protect you guys! There’s no way I’m letting anymore demons near you.”  
“No, Rin,” he said looking up at him, “You can’t keep putting yourself in danger for our sake, and there are going to be times when you can’t help us.” “I appreciate what you’ve done for us,” he said, “But I just don’t want to feel so helpless about this. These people hurt my family and there is nothing I can do about it….”  
“Maybe not just yet,” a voice said, “But I could help you with that.”  
All three people turned to see a man in a white suit and top hat appear. Rin and Yukio looked surprised but Maes just looked confused. “What the hell?!” Rin shouted, “Mephisto how did you get into here?! How long have you been standing there?”  
“Long enough to know that one’s got a bounty on his head,” he said pointing at at Maes with his umbrella. “Good to see you again, Hughes,” the demon king greeted, “I’d ask you how the wife is, but I feel that would be a bit redundant at this point.”  
Maes frowned, ready to snap at him, but then gave a confused look. “Wait a minute…”he said in confusion, “How did you know who I was?”  
“Yeah…” Yukio asked, “How did you know him? We never told you about him…”  
Mephisto faked being hurt. “You don’t remember me? That stings!” he said, “And here I thought I left a good impression on you…”  
Maes was now getting frustrated. “Seriously, who are you and how do you know me?” He asked.  
“We met briefly a few years ago,” he said, “I believe you were looking for a drink for your wife.”  
Maes blinked in surprise. “You were the one who suggested that bar where I found Roy!” he said.   
“That is correct!” the demon said, “Though I don’t believe I ever gave you my name. My name is Sir Mephisto Pheles, Knight of the True Cross, pleasure to meet you.”  
“You two I guess…” Maes said, carefully taking the flamboyant man’s hand, “Though that still doesn’t explain how you knew these two or my name. I don’t think I ever gave it to you.”  
Mephisto pouted. “They didn’t tell you about me? How rude!” he complained, “Very well, I guess some explaining is in order. I was a close friend of Shiro, their previous guardian. I helped get them to Amestris and occasionally drop by to check up on them. I make sure things are going smoothly for them and see if they’re getting into too much trouble.”  
“We could have really used your help a few days ago…” Rin grumbled, “I was stuck in Lab Five and was nearly imprisoned for God knows how long.”  
“Yeah, and that information you gave me wasn’t exactly what I was looking for,” Yukio added, crossing his arms.  
“First of all, I told you you didn’t want that info. You insisted otherwise,” he retorted, “And secondly, you do realise I have life besides spying on you two. As entertaining as your lives may be, I’m still the headmaster of True Cross Academy in Assiah. That isn;t exactly an easy position. Do you realise how many ungrateful brats I see in my office on a daily basis? Besides, I can’t exactly disappear without it looking suspicious.”  
“Wait…” Maes said, “This doesn’t make any sense...How are you able to get two and from this world regularly? I thought that kind of alchemy has serious costs. Do you have a philosopher’s stone or something?”  
Mephisto laughed at him. “Oh that is too rich! You really think I’m bound by the same laws as you mortals?”he said, surprising Hughes, “I’m the demon king of time and space. I can go anywhere I like, whenever I please.”  
The man’s eyes widened. “You’re a demon?!” He questioned.  
“Yes, I just said that,” Mephisto responded, “Do try to keep up.” This caused Maes to scowl at the demon.  
“ANYWAYS,” Yukio said, “Mephisto, can you please explain why you are here instead of antagonizing my uncle?”  
“Ah yes,” he said, “I’m afraid I’m here for more than just a courtesy call. Truth is on my case about Astaroth ending up in this dimension. Rin, I’m sure you’ve already become acquainted with him.” Rin glared at the demon. “For now, I’m trying to scope out what my baby brother is up to before I try to take action,” he said, “And from the state of half the people in the room, I’ll bet he’s been pretty active. Now as for why I went looking for you two-”  
“Wait...little brother?!” Maes said standing up with and angry expression, “And you said half, so he really is the one who sent that thing after my family!”  
“First off, the technical term is naberius,” Mephisto responded in a nonchalant voice, “And yes, most likely. Sending a rotting corpse abomination after someone’s family is something he would definitely do. Why do you ask?”  
Maes growled and grabbed Mephisto by the lapels. “Your brother just attacked my family!” he snapped, “And you saw fit to joke about it?! What the hell is wrong with you?!”  
“Well to be fair, I am quite literally heartless,” Mephisto responded with a smirk before frowning, “Now hands off.” He flicked Maes between the eyes which somehow had enough force to send him stumbling back.  
“Uncle!” Both the boys cried before rushing over to him.   
“I’m fine…” he said as he rubbed his eyes, but when he opened them he looked surprised. “D-did he knock out the lights?!” He questioned, “Why can’t I see anything…”  
Rin and Yukio turned to look and Mephisto with anger. “What the hell did you do to him?!” Rin demanded.  
Mephisto shrugged. “A little bit of temporary blindness, “ he said with a smirk, “Don’t worry, it will go away in a few moments.” Rin growled and tried to lunge for him, but Mephisto stepped out of the way.  
“Y-you can really do that to someone?” Maes said quietly, looking in. The direction of his voice in fear, “Just take away their sight like that?!”  
“If I feel like it,” Mephisto responded, “all it takes is just cutting off the reception between the nerves in your eyes to your brain. But as amusing as it can be to watch humans stumble around like idiots, that’s not why I’m here.” “Infact I haven’t even told you half of why I’m here,” he continued, “I came to the hospital in hopes of finding Rin because upon returning here, I sensed he had opened the sword.” He glanced at the boy.   
“Yeah, so?” Rin responded defensively.  
“So I have a warning for you, boy,” Mephisto said with a frown, “You’re going to have to be careful with that thing. The more you use it, the higher the chance you could lose control.” “Though you may have been able to control your flames in the past with alchemy, you’ve opened the floodgates now and it's going to be a lot harder,” he explained, “Your powers will be more strongly tied to your emotions and you’re more likely to have ‘flame out’ moments as you might say. And the longer you leave the sword open, the more raw power you will exude, until the point where it could very well consume you and you’ll be setting supernatural wildfires wherever you go. And I like this world. I’d rather not have it become extra crispy, got it.”  
Rin blinked before nodding seriously. “Splendid,” the demon said with a smile. He then turned towards Maes who had regained his sight. “And now for you,” he said. The man tensed up at being outed. “It was very rude of you not to let me finish what I was saying,” he said, “I almost don’t want to help you now, but since I feel like being nice and I hate wasting a chance to gain something from this….” He brought his umbrella up into the air. “eins, vie, drei!” he announced before a box fell into his hand, “Here. Go ahead and open it.”   
Maes cocked an eyebrow before doing so. Inside he found two books and a bunch of throwing knives in the shape of the pin attached to the demon’s lapel. “I believe throwing knives are you weapon of choice, correct?” he said, “So I decided you’d like some specifically made for killing demons….along with an encyclopedia on them and a book of holy verses.”  
The man frowned. “Why are you giving me these?” He asked, “Aren’t you a demon?”  
“Well yes, but I’ve become a bit estranged from my brethren...some of them anyways,” he said, “I’ve become attached to the comforts of the human world, so I made a deal with an organization of exorcists, those that hunt demons, and became headmaster of a school for exorcists. Although, you are much too old for that school, I believe this will be able to give you a fighting chance at defending yourself.”  
“But it’s your brother I’m fighting...” Maes said looking up at him seriously, “I can understand betraying other demons but not specifically family. Why are you helping us fight him?”  
Mephisto gave him a patronizing smile. “Ah, humans…”he said, “You assume I feel some semblance of devotion to my family, how cute. But if you want a reason, then how about this: he’s stepping on my territory.” “This world is my little vacation home. I don’t intend on letting him mess it up with whatever he’s planning,” he said, “Besides that, we’ve had another feud going on for some time. The naberius is my creation. I don’t appreciate that he copied my work and started using it for his own purposes.”  
“Wait what?” Rin said angrily, “You made that naberius?” Maes was also about to protest when Mephisto spoke up.  
“Not that one, no,” he said, “but I developed that type demon with my disciples a couple hundred years ago for the Vatican. You remember the lab we visited, right Yukio? Well they wanted a demon they could use to fight other demons. So I delivered. But eventually the project was shut down...though a while back my little brother decided to copy my notes.” Mephisto gave a miffed look before shaking his head.   
“So that’s what you meant when you had something to gain from this?” Maes said, frowning at the man, “You’re going to use me as a way to tick him off?” Maes really didn’t like this guy. He could see Mephisto was the kind of person who judged others on how much use he could get out of them rather than treated them as people. In the end he was only a pawn to the demon king, and he hated that.  
“You’re close…” Mephisto responded with a smirk, “Let’s just say you’ll be paying me back sometime in the future…” Yukio and Rin both seemed to tense at that statement. While he didn’t know what exactly Mephisto had meant, Maes knew from the gesture that whatever the implications of what the demon had said were, they couldn’t be good. “Well, then,” the demon said, turning on his heel, “I suppose I’ll be off. Happy hunting!” With that he left the room, cape billowing behind him. He waved his umbrella in the air and the door closed behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...You guys are going to hate me now. If it makes you feel any better, I had to stop while writing the maes hughes scene to keep from crying. You're goin to hate me even more when I tell you there isn't going to be a new chapert until at least monday, and and then there probably will only be a new chapter about once a week from here on out. Sorry, but that's college life!   
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let meknow what you think.


	18. The brinded cat

Gracia slowly blinked awake. All she could see were white ceiling tiles. Where was she? "Aunt Gracia?" Yukio's voice called, "Are you awake?" She relaxed slightly. She hadn't gotten taken by that monster. She must have just fell asleep while cooking and had a terrible dream. Yes that was it. It had to be. Nothing like that could exist, and Rin couldn't turn into some half human creature like that with the power from a sword. It made no sense.

"Yes, yes, I'll be up in just a…" she stopped as she brought her arm to her head. There was a bandage around it, and as she slowly came to her sense, she realised it hurt. She looked around. She was in a hospital bed. It all happened...It was all real…

"Aunt Gracia?" Yukio said, sitting up straight as he noticed her worried expression, "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked, "What happened at our house...The monster… Rin bursting into flames…it all happened."

Yukio sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know. It was a crazy experience," Yukio said, "But I promise we'll explain everything." "Rin!" Yukio called, "Get in here!" She could hear footsteps coming down the hall. Rin stepped into the room as she gasped as she saw him. His tail hung out and his ears were pointed. His eyes looked like an odd shade of blue. "Rin…"she said, worry clear in her voice as she held her hands to her mouth, "What happened to you?! Are you alright?" When had he become like this? Had it happened while he was in lab 5? Was he experimented on? If so, why had she not noticed before?

Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm fine…" He said with a smile, "It's kind of a long story though."

"But we promise we'll answer any questions you have," Yukio interjected.

Gracia nodded, but then her brow furrowed as she realised something. "Rin...Yukio…" she asked, "Where is Elicia?" Both boys froze. They hoped she would wait to ask that question. Their silence made her worry. "Boy, where is she?" Gracia demanded.

"She's here, and she's alive and well," Yukio started with a sigh, "But her injuries were far more severe than yours."

Gracia froze. "How severe?" she asked quietly. Rin and Yukio exchanged glances before telling her together. They knew the news would break her heart, and it did, but that didn't make it any easier to watch.

….

After allowing her time to grieve over her daughter's injury, the boys finally explained everything. Their heritage, how they got here, about what happened in lab five, everything. Gracia sat there, listening intently to all of it. Once they were finished, she pulled them into a hug. "You poor boys…" she whispered as she squeezed them.

"So…."Rin asked as she let go of them again, "Are you mad at us for not telling you?"

Gracia blinked at them. "Mad? How can I be mad?" she asked, "After what happened the last time someone else found out your secret, the last thing I'd expect one of you to do is tell someone about your secret." "Besides, It's not as if you lied to me. You just didn't tell me the whole truth," she said, putting them at ease. "But I do have something to ask of you," she said, "Is my husband here? And if so, can you bring him to me? I want to talk to him."

Both boys smiled. "Of course," Yukio said, "He's in the other room with Elicia. A specialist for amputations wanted to get a look at her earlier and properly dress the wound. We can go get him for you."

"Thank you," Gracia said with a warm smile as the two left the room.

….

Maes had been a little upset originally about them moving his daughter, as he didn't want to have to leave Gracia to be there for her. He had been torn between staying with his Wife or leaving to go see Elica. However, Yukio convinced him to watch over Elicia, as she would want her father when she woke up.

He had stayed to watch the doctor as he worked with her. Now he was waiting for her to wake up. He watched as she slowly blinked awake. "Daddy?" she muttered as she slowly opened her eyes.

He smiled for her. "Hey princess!" he said, "How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy…" she said as she rubbed her eyes and sat up. Maes' lips grew tight. They told him the pain medication they had given her would make her sleepy. She then looked around and frowned. "Daddy, why am I sleeping in your hospital room?" she asked, "Shouldn't you be in the bed? You're the hurt one!"

"I'm all better actually…" Maes said, forcing a smile, "But I'm afraid you got hurt." The little girl cocked her head to the side. Maes paused and swallowed before he continued. "Elicia," he said, "Do you remember what happened before you got here?"

The little girl looked up in concentration. "Well...first, mommy was making dinner but then she heard a noise from upstairs. She thought I was jumping on the bed but I wasn't! I was being a good girl and playing with my dolls down stairs," she smiled proudly at the last statement before continuing, "then mommy told me to wait down stairs…." The little girl frowned before looking at her dad. "But then some really weird stuff started happening!" She exclaimed, "Mommy came down the stairs playing pretend that there was a monster...and then we started floating! Like fairies!...and cousin Rin came in the room and he was on fire! And then, and then…." She frowned and looked down. "I don't remember what happened next…" she said with a pout, "I smelled something funny and then I felt sleepy…" She then turned back to her father. "Do you know what happened, Daddy?" she asked innocently.

Maes bit his lip for a second before nodding. "Yes sweetheart," he said sadly, "I do...Your mother...wasn't playing pretend. There was a real monster in the house, but it was invisible."

Elicia's eyes widened. "A real monster?!" She squeaked, "Is it gone? Is mommy ok? Is cousin Rin ok?"

Maes smiled at the concern in her eyes. She was such a kind hearted little girl. "Your mother is fine," he said, "So is Rin. He even helped get rid of the monster." He then frowned. "But you...weren't so ok…"he said slowly, trying to bring up the courage to explain to his daughter what had happened to her, "The monster tried to take you away, and Rin stopped it...but in the process…" Maes closed his eyes. "In the process it took your leg," he finally said. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach as he saw the shocked and upset expression on his daughter's face. She pulled the sheets up and squeaked as she saw the stub where her leg had been.

"My leg! My leg!" she cried, "It's gone!" She started to pad around the sheets frantically as if that would make it disappear. Tears started to form in her eyes and Maes' fists began to shake and he had to look away from the sight. Astaroth put her into this state. He was going to pay for this. He swore if he ever found that demon, he would-

"Daddy?" Her tiny voice broke him out of his inner rage as he turned to look at his daughter. His heart immediately broke at her teary expression. "You can get my leg back from the meanie monster, right?" she asked, "Make him give it back!"

Maes sighed. His heart ached for his little girl. "I'm sorry Elicia, but I can't," he said sadly. The girl sniffled before starting to cry. Maes scooped her up carefully and rocked her. She clung to her father and buried her face in his chest. "It's not fair!" she cried, "I liked that leg! I want it back! How am I going to play with Isabelle or play hopscotch?"

Her father forced a smile. "Hey there…." Maes said in a comforting voice as he rubbed her back, "it's not the end of the world…" Elicia looked up at him in confusion. "We can get you a new leg, and you can go back to playing with your friends again," he said.

"Really?"she said as she started to stop crying.

"Yeah," he said, "It'll take some getting used to, but we'll get you a nice shiny new leg."

"Like Edward?" she asked eyes lighting up, "I can have a cool looking one like his?"

"Something like it," Maes said, "Though you won't be able to get something exactly like Ed's until you're much older."

Elicia nodded, not put off by this statement. "Can I get a pink one?" she asked, "or or one that looks like it has those ribbon thingies that dancers have?"

Maes gave an amused hum and gave her a gentle squeeze. "We'll get whatever you want, sweetheart," he said. His daughter squealed in delight and his smile widened. Things were going to be alright.

At that moment, the door opened and Rin and Yukio entered the room. "Hey boys," Maes said.

"Yo," Rin responded, hands behind his head.

"Rin! Yuki!" Elicia called, waving to him.

"Hey Elicia," Yukio said, "How are you doing?"

"Good!" she chirped, " 'M still angry at that monster for taking my leg, but Daddy says he's going to get me a super cool new one like Edward's!"

"That's great," Yukio said, "I'll make sure to show you some pamphlets with your options and we can choose whatever kind of prothstetic you want."

"Yay!" she cheered.

Maes smiled before speaking. "So are you boys here to see Elicia or do you need to speak with me?" He asked.

"Actually, Gracia wanted us to get you," Yukio explained, "Elicia can come too if she likes." Maes nodded and started getting up.

"Ya!" Elicia said, "I wanna see Mommy t-" She stopped as she got a good look at Rin. Her eyes widened and she gasped as the boy tensed up and started smiling nervously. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, "Look at Rin! He looks funny! And he's got a tail!"

Maes winced slightly. He was not looking forward to this conversation. He had no idea how to explain Rin's appearance to his daughter. "Elicia…" he started.

"He's a kitty cat now!" she exclaimed, throwing them all off guard.

"...What?" Rin said dumbly.

"He's got pointy ears and sharp teeth and a black, fuzzy tail! Just like a kitty cat!" she explained her reasoning.

Everyone stood there for a moment in silence. Then Yukio brought a hand to his mouth to stop himself from doubling over in laughter. "I'm sorry…." he said to all the confused looks, "But it's true Rin! You do kinda look like a cat now."

Rin's tail lashed back and forth. "I do not!" he snapped.

"You kinda do, Rin," Maes said in amusement. Rin turned and glared at him.

"Why are you a kitty now when you weren't before," Elicia asked, "Are you a werecat?"

"I'm not-" Rin started before Yukio slammed a hand over his mouth. "Yes, Elicia," he said in his most serious voice, "Yes he is. But you can't tell anyone, ok? It's a secret." he placed a finger to his mouth for emphasis. Elicia nodded with an equally serious expression mimicked the motion.

Then Yukio removed his hand from Rin's mouth, who promptly pulled him aside.

"Why did you do that?!" he hissed, "Why didn't you just tell her the truth?!"

Yukio crooked an eyebrow at him. "I'm sorry, do you want me to explain to a three year old how her cousin is actually a monster not entirely unlike the one who attacked the house?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

Rin blinked and looked down. "No…." he said.

"I thought so," he said, "Werecat it is then." He clapped his brother on the back and Rin sighed and pouted.

Elicia smiled at him and giggled. "Aww…" she said, leaning over and patting Rin on the head, "Don't feel bad. You're the best werekitty!" Rin's face scrunched up in annoyance before sighing, rolling his eyes, and grinning. He couldn't stay mad at her. Besides, being a cat was better than being a demon.

….

"This one is built to be used for sports," Yukio explained, pointing to the S shaped design on the pamphlet, "It's very springy and will allow you to jump higher and run faster." The little girl looked at it curiously as she sat on his lap.

"I don't want that!" she said, "That doesn't look like a leg at all!"

"Ok then," Yukio said as he folded up the pamphlet and moved onto the next one. RIn sat beside them in the hallway as they went over a stack of pamphlets and order forums Yukio had been given. Maes and Gracia wanted to have some time alone to talk, and Yukio thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show Elicia the pamphlets.

"Hey!" Rin interjected with a wry grin, "Maybe you should get a wooden peg leg and become a pirate!" Yukio rolled his eyes and Elicia frowned.

"Nooo!" she said, "Pirates are bad guys! I don't want to be a bad guy. Bad kitty!"

She then looked back over to where Yukio was selecting the pamphlets and she spotted something. "Look! That's what Ed has!" she said, pointing to a pamphlet on automail. Yukio frowned. He had originally selected that to give to Gracia and Maes to decided if they thought Elicia should ever go through the procedure, but he forgot to take it out of the bunch.

"Yes it is," he said, removing it from the pile, "But we should probably wait to get you automail. It's heavy and takes a lot of maintenance. You should learn to manage with a regular prothstetic first."

Elicia nodded before frowning. "Yuki?" she asked, "Edward's leg is gone too, right?"

Yukio frowned but answered her question. "Yes that is correct," he answered, "Why do you ask?"

"Did a monster take his leg too?" she asked.

Yukio and Rin blinked in surprise. "You could say that, I guess," Yukio said. It wasn't a monster, but a supernatural force did take his leg.

Elicia looked sad. "Poor Ed…" she said, "Oh I know! Maybe we should do something nice to make him feel better about it!"

Yukio sighed. Elicia's heart was in the right place but he knew something like that wouldn't do much good as Ed didn't like dwelling on it. "I'm sure he'd appreciate the thought, but I don't think that's such a good idea, right Rin?" he asked his twin. However, he gained a puzzled expression as he looked upon Rin and found him baring a anxious and worried expression. "Rin is something wrong?" he asked.

"I just had a really bad thought," Rin said.

Yukio gave a look of concern. "What was it?" he asked Rin.

"I'd rather not say in front of Elicia…" he said. Yukio nodded and set the three year old down on a chair.

"Hey! No fair!" she whined, "I want to hear!"

"Trust me, Elicia, you don't," Rin said as he got up.

"We'll be back in a moment," Yukio assured, "Keep looking at the pictures for now and let me know which you like best." Once they were a good distance away, Yukio whispered, "Ok, what's wrong now?"

"What Elicia said about a monster coming after Ed," Rin said, "It got me thinking...What if they sent another homunculus or demon after the Elrics too?" Yukio's eyes widened in surprise. "Think about it," Rin said, "The said Ed and Al were sacrifices, and they already sent two different...things...to silence Hughes. What would they do to get their hands on people who are not only important to them, AND that have information on them?"

Yukio's eyes became wide with worry. "You're right!" he said, "And since they went out of town to a countryside area...it would be easier to frame an accident and make them disappear!" Yukio bit his lip. His brow knit together. What could they do? The two could be in serious danger, especially if they sent a demon after them.

"...I think I should go to Dublith," Rin said.

"What?!" Yukio cried, "Rin are you crazy? Uncle Hughes hasn't even started studying demons yet and we have to wait for Dad. He'll be here any day!"

"Dad can wait, but if Ed and Al are in trouble, they can't!" Rin said, "Besides...I think I have a plan."

…

Gracia, Maes, and Elicia all sat in Elicia's room as they watched Rin enter with curiosity. "Ok, so I'm going to head out to find Ed and Al to make sure they're ok," he said, "but after what happened, I don't want to leave you guys alone either. I know Mephisto left you with those throwing knives uncle, but I don't think that will be enough." He thein pulled out a piece of paper with what appeared to be a transmutation circle on it. "So that's why I'm going to leave you with a little protection," he said as he held up the piece of paper. The three gave confused looks.

"Is the that a transmutation circle?" Maes asked.

"Not exactly," Rin said, "It's a summoning circle. Here. Just watch." He pricked his finger using his teeth and smeared a little blood onto the parchment and tossed it to the ground. "Ok, get over here!" he said, "We need you, buddy."

There was a puff of smoke and once it cleared, a small black cat with green horns and two tails was standing in front of them. Maes and gracia took a step back while Elicia looked delighted.

"You're giving us a cat?" Elicia cried, "YAAAAY! Thank you so much, Rin!"

"Rin…" Maes asked carefully, "What exactly is that?"

"This is Kuro," he said, causing both adults to give shocked expression, "he isn't a real cat. He's a cat sidhe. You just couldn't see his horns or tails before due to...reasons."

"What's a cat-siddy?" Elicia asked.

Yukio smiled. "It's actually a kind of scottish fae," he explained.

"Really?! He's a fairy?" the girl asked, eyes shining. Then she frowned. "But wait...I thought fairies looked like little princesses with wings…"

"Not all of them look like that," Yukio explained, "It's sort of a general term for a kind of magical creature. Technically, witches can count as fairies too."

"Thanks for the explanation, Yukio," Maes said, still eyeing the cat in confusion, "But you said he was going to help us...How will that work?"

"Well Kuro was actually our household guardian from demons," Rin explained, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "True is, we didn't get him as a stray. He belonged to Shiro and he had him sent to us through Mephisto to protect us…but now he can to the same for you!"

Maes nodded, letting this information sink in. In hindsight, he supposed this made Breda right about the cat being a little evil, though he supposed that wouldn't be quite the right word to describe him...dangerous perhaps? This also made Armstrong and the demon's first meeting a little more lucky. Really, if Kuro was powerful enough to fend off strong demons, then he probably could have gotten back at Armstrong in a pretty nasty way.

"Kuro," Rin said, catching the demon cat's attention, "You're going to look after the Hughes' for a while, Ok? Be good to them, especially Elicia."

"Ok Rin!" he responded with a nod.

Rin froze. "Is something wrong?" Maes asked.

"I must be going crazy...I swore I just heard Kuro talk!" he said.

"I can talk," the cat responded, "You just were never able to hear me before."

Rin blinked and stumbled back. "He did it again!" the boy cried, "did you guys hear it?"

"I'm afraid not…" Gracia said, giving him a concerned look.

"No, but I want to!" Elicia said with a pout, "Daddy? How come Rin gets to talk to cats but I can't?"

"It might have to do with your recent...change…" Yukio explained, "Maybe you gained the power of telepathy, at least with other creatures like you."

"I guess that makes sense," Rin muttered. He then smiled and picked up Kuro. "Ok Elicia," he said, "I want you to say hi to Kuro." He set the cat demon down in her lap and she immediately started hugging him. Kuro squirmed for a second before relenting and pouting. "You're going to have to take good care of him, ok?"he said to the little girl, "And don't mention the horns or extra tails to anyone, alright? He only lets certain people see them."

Elicia nodded. "Ok! I promise!" she said before nuzzling the black cat, "Aww...He's so soft and fluffy!" Maes felt a little uncomfortable about his daughter being so close to such a powerful force but he reminded himself that this was still the same cat that had been around the boys when they had only been about four or so years older than her. He was used to children, and if Rin trusted him, then so did he.

"We have Kuro registered as a therapy animal for Elica and Gracia so he can hang around the hospital with them," Yukio explained.

Maes smiled "Thank you boys," he said, "Both of you. I don't know what I'd do without you around."

Rin scratched the back of his head. "Eh, it's no problem!" he said, "Well, I better go get ready to head out for Dublith."

Maes and his wife nodded. "Good luck," he said.

"Yes, take care!" Gracia added.

Elica removed one arm from around the cat sidhe to wave at him. "Bye Bye!" she chirped. With that, Rin headed out the door.

….

It had started off as an average day. The late morning sun had been shining. He had gotten everything he needed packed and it was all being sent back to Central agian. Roy had been walking up to the train platform holding a suitcase in one hand and Kuro's cat carrier when all of a sudden he heard a poofing noise. He stumbled as the carrier felt suddenly lighter. He looked down to see a little smoke leaking through the bars. He peered inside and to his surprise it was completely empty!

For a moment he was confused as to what had happened. How could the cat just disappear out of thin air? Then realisation dawned on him: Rin must have summoned him for some reason. But why he did, he didn't know. Roy heard the train whistle and sighed. He supposed he'd just have to find out once he got back to Central. He hoped the boys weren't in too much trouble.


	19. The Root of all Evil

Roy stepped out onto the platform of Central’s train station. After he had all the luggage he had carried with him (the rest being shipped to his house by truck) he spotted Yukio waiting for him. “Dad!” he called, waving him over. Roy smiled slightly as he saw him but couldn’t help but be troubled by the fact that Rin was not with him. “Good to see you again Dad,” Yukio said.  
“You too,” Roy said, “Where’s Rin?” He glanced around just to be sure he hadn’t missed the boy. “Is he alright? You summoned Kuro the other day, so I was a little worried,” he said.  
“He’s fine,” Yukio explained, “But he isn’t in Central right now...he went to Dublith to check on Edward and Al.” The boy gave an apologetic shrug and Roy frowned in annoyance.   
“Are you serious?” he complained before running a hand down his face, “Well this is just great. I expected him to avoid me a little due to the conversation we were going to have, but to hop on a train to get away from me? That’s just ridiculously childish and idiotic…He’s going to be in a lot of trouble when he gets back.”   
Yukio frowned. “He wasn’t trying to get away from you,” he said, “He genuinely was worried about Ed and Alphonse’s safety.” Roy crooked an eyebrow at him.  
“Why’s that?” He asked.  
Yukio bit his lip. “You remember how Maes was attacked?” he asked as they walked.   
Roy frowned. “Yes, why?” he asked.  
“Well…” Yukio started, trying to figure out how to say what he wanted, “After that failed, they tried to silence him again by sending a high level after his family to kidnap them.” Roy stopped walking and turned to Yukio in shock. “They’re alright now. Rin stopped them, although the three now have some temptants,” Yukio said, “And so they know about us now...They took it pretty well, but….” Roy nodded. When Yukio said demons had attacked them, he figured their secret would be out. “Rin ended up summoning Kuro to protect them,” Yukio explained, “He’s now acting as their guard dog incase they ever send anyone after them again. But then he realised Ed and Al were open for possible demon attack too.” “They and Rin snuck into lab five as you know, and while there, the people using the facility tried to attack them,” Yukio said, “So he figured they would be next on the list of the people that wanted Uncle Hughes dead and went after them to protect them from any demons on his own.”  
Roy’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “He went on his own?!” he questioned, “He didn’t even have Ross or someone take him to the station? What is that boy thinking?! Not only is it stupidly dangerous to go off demon hunting like that, but Scar’s still out there! He could get himself killed!” Roy growled in anger.   
“Trust me, Dad. You don’t have to worry about him as much as you think,” Yukio said, though his tone of voice wasn’t assuring, “After all he did save our uncle and his family.”  
“Yes but he had Kuro when he faced off against the demon,” Roy argued.  
“No he didn’t,” Yukio finally said, dreading where this argument was going.   
Roy paused, giving Yukio a careful look. He didn’t know where this conversation was going, but he could tell he didn’t like it. “What do you mean he didn’t have Kuro? How could he not have had Kuro?” Roy questioned, “You said he called him to protect them.”  
“After he fought the demon,” Yukio clarified, closing his eyes.  
“Yukio, that doesn’t make sense,” Roy argued, brow furrowing in confusion and suspicion, “How could Rin have fought and beaten a high level demon without that cat’s help? He has little more than a field guide about demons.”  
Yukio looked at Roy. He stared at him for a long moment before squeezing his eyes shut and looking away. “Dad,” he said, “Do you remember how Rin had said he found Kurikara in Lab 5?”  
Roy’s eyes widened with horror as the realisation dawned on him.   
….  
Rin was starting to get worried. He checked all the inns in town, but not a single one of them said the Elric brothers were there. He knew they should be here. He had bumped into several people saying they had seen them a few days ago, but they hadn’t seen them since. Rin was starting to get worried. He began checking every back alley and gutter to see where they might have gone. Any sides of fights or struggles. He could smell several places they had been around in the past few days (one perk of his new demon abilities) but couldn’t find hide nor hare of them anywhere. Rin sighed and finally gave up as he reached a rather dingy looking bar called the Devil’s Nest and slumped to the ground outside. His tail flicked back and forth in annoyance. This was hopeless. It seemed like a wild goose chase.  
He glanced at sign. Maybe he could go undercover or something and look around the bar. He was wearing civilian clothes….Nah, he was too young. They’d be able to tell and kick him out. Maybe. To be honest he wasn’t sure if this establishment bothered to follow the laws refusing to minors. Hmmmm….maybe if he got them to serve him, he could threaten them for information not to take away their license….  
Rin sudden sat up. He could feel something near by. It was a strange presence, like he had felt at the lab, though not quite as threatening. “Hey kid!” Rin turned to see a man with spiky hair and a sharp toothy smile, leaning against the wall staring at him. He was wearing sunglasses and a sleeveless jacket. “Whacha doing out here all on your own? Did you run away?” he said, his tone laid back and slightly teasing, “You know this isn’t the safest part of town for a kid to be hanging around.”  
Rin began pulling his gloved hand out of his pocket while the other went to the strap of the cloth case that held Kurikara. There was no way he was going to let someone take it again. “I know how to handle myself,” he said in a warning tone, looking the man dead in the eyes.  
“Woah!” the guy said, raising his hands into the air while still smiling, “Take it easy there, squirt. I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” RIn relaxed slightly while giving him a confused look. “I just want to get to know ya,” he continued, “What do ya say? How about you come inside my pub, have a few pints with me and tell me all about how you got that tail.”  
Rin had been lowering his guard up until those words to which he froze in shock at. He stared at the person, mystified. He could see his tail?! How?! “How did you-” he started but was cut off by the man standing in front of him.  
“It’s not hard to spot, kid,” he said dully as he folded his arms over his chest, “You didn’t exactly do a good job of hiding it. It makes it pretty clear you aren’t exactly human.” It was a pretty dumb mistake in his mind. He was starting to wonder whether this chimera was worth taking back to his gang. Plus it looked like the kid was half cat. With Dolecetto around, that might be an issue…  
Rin’s eyes widened as he noticed the ouroboros symbol on the man’s hand. He narrowed his eyes. So that’s how he could see him. “Yeah, well I know you aren’t exactly human either,” Rin growled, “Isn’t that right, homunculus?”  
The man’s eyes widened before he smiled and whistled. “Wow. You’re smarter than I thought you were,” he said stroking his chin, “Maybe you are worth the trouble after all…” “The name’s Greed by the way,” he said, “What’s yours?” Rin faltered and gave him a confused look. Greed frowned. “Aw, come on kid!” He said, “We’re all not exactly humans here. Can’t I ask for your name?”  
“What, you mean your little buddies didn’t tell you who I am?” Rin said standing up.  
Greed crooked an eyebrow. “Little...buddies?” he repeated in confusion.  
“Don’t play dumb!” Rin snapped, “You’re a homunculus! The others must have sent you here to capture Ed and Al and now you plan on taking me with too! Well that isn’t going to happen.” Rin pulled on his other glove.  
Greed frowned. So his family was after this kid too...what made him so special? Last he checked they needed HUMAN sacrifices, not animal hybrid ones. “Easy there kid,” he said, voice losing the amusement it once had, “I don’t know anyone named Ed or Al. Look, why don’t you just settle down and come with me so I can--” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as a fireball exploded in front of him and sent him flying.  
“I already told you that ain’t happening,” Rin growled, hand extended outward, “But what is going to happen is you’re going to tell me what you’ve done with my friends!”  
Greed scraped himself off the wall he had been stuck to and wiped the side of his mouth. He growled before smirking.   
“Alright then,” he said, “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get. But don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to back down.” He then lunged for Rin, attacking him while wearing a black glove that seemed to come out of nowhere. Rin moved quickly, expecting to be punched, but at the last second, the homunculus raked him across the stomach.   
Rin hissed and clutched the thin gashes. “That was a warning kid,” Greed said, “Keep being a stubborn brat and I’ll do much worse.”  
Rin narrowed his eyes. “Like I’ll let you!” he growled as he snapped his fingers. The homunculus was fast, dodging ever blast. Finally, one exploded in front of his face, but Greed ran right through it, shocking Rin as the face that appeared on the other side looked like a grey skull with red lines.  
“What the hell?!” Rin hissed.  
“Like it?” he said, “It’s called my Ultimate Shield. Pretty nifty huh?” He then changed his face back to the same smug grin he had before. “It’s completely impenetrable. Face it kid, with this, you can’t touch me,” he said.  
“Nothing’s unbreakable,” Rin growled, “If my normal fire power isn’t going to cut it…” He glance around to make sure no one else was in the area. “Then I’ll just have to use something else!” he continued before unsheathing his sword. Greed’s jaw fell as he watched the fire explode forth.   
“Impressive!” he said, “Is that a party trick you do? If so, I’m impressed.” Rin didn’t respond. He simply charged at Greed and began to attempt to slash at him. Greed blocked it with his shield that had formed around his arm.  
“Tell me where they are!” Rin demanded.  
“I told you, I. Don’t. Know!” Greed barked back, “Jeez, how long is it going to take you to get that through your thick skull?”  
“Liar!” Rin shouted as he swung his sword again a few more times. It clanged against the shield and created sparks.  
Greed growled with anger at him. “Don’t call me that!” he roared, before attempting to slash at Rin again. Rin ducked and cut a gash into his exposed arm. Greed winced at the pain and grabbed it as Rin rolled away. He smirked however. “Nice try kid, but It was a pointless-,” he sneered before he realised something: he was still bleeding. The healing process hadn’t started. There was no red electrical spark or itching feeling of the wound suddenly closing on its own. Just the sting of an open wound.   
“What the hell?” he growled, “What did you do to me?!”  
Rin gave him a confused look. “I slashed your arm…” he stated bluntly, “This is a fight. I’m allowed to do that.”  
“No! Not that you idiot!” he snapped, “It’s supposed to be healing right now! Why isn’t it healing?!”  
Rin blinked. “It is?” Rin said, “Because that didn’t happen with any of the other homunculi I’ve fought…”  
Greed blinked in surprise. “How many others did you fight?” he questioned.  
“Uh...two I think,” he said, “One named Envy and another who was a woman with black hair.”   
“And you used that sword both times?” he asked. RIn nodded. Greed grinned. Oh, now this was interesting. A sword capable of disrupting the healing factor of a homunculus. He could really use one of those if his family ever came by for a courtesy call. Plus, being covered in blue flames would make him look pretty bad ass…  
It was decided. He had to have that sword. “Ok, kid how about we settle things like this,” he said, “You give me the sword, and I’ll get one of my buddies to track down your friends.”   
Rin moved back defensively “No way, asshole!” he snapped, “I am NOT letting you guys get your hands on this sword!” He didn’t know what the homunculi wanted it for, but if a demon like Astaroth was involved, then it could possibly lead to something world endangering.  
Greed frowned. “Fine then,” he said, raising his shield up to his neck, “I guess I’ll just have to take it by force!” He lunged for Rin attempting to slash at him and grab him with his claws. Rin moved back, away from his blows while swinging his own sword at him. It collided with his shield and sparks were sent flying every which way.   
Greed pushed him farther back into the alley until he finally had enough. He ducked and grabbed Rin by the leg, sweeping him off his feet. “Waaah!” Rin cried and Greed swung him around through the air before throwing him into the wall of the abandoned building next door to the Devil’s Nest. Rin smashed through the old brick wall, creating a giant hole. Greed smirked and approached Rin’s still form, reaching out to claim his prize.   
However, he was stopped by a low growling noise. Greed stood up to see several pairs of red glowing orbs staring back at him. Before he could say anything, several large pitch black dogs hopped out of the hole and began growling at him. Their bodies were like shadows that could stand up. “What the heck are these things…” Greed muttered as he backed away defensively.  
He didn’t have time to figure that out, as a much larger beast stepped out of the hole: a big, red, three headed dog. It looked down at greed with it’s six beady eyes. “Woah there…”he said, “Easy boy…” The horse sized demon dog lunged for him. Greed put up his shield as the dog latched onto his arm. Greed grinned. “Hah! Not so tasty looking now, am I?” He taunted.   
The cerberus didn’t seem to mind however, and while still holding onto him, started running. “Woah!” Greed cried as he was suddenly dragged along the streets. “Hey! Let go ya bastard!”he cried, punching the beast, but it didn’t let go. It carried him off with the shadow dogs not far behind.  
Rin groaned as he slowly pulled himself from the rubble. He rubbed his head. What had happened to him? His eyes widened as it all suddenly came rushing back. “Shit!” he thought and reached for his sword to make sure it was still there. He sighed in relief when he saw it was. But there was still one issue. Where was Greed? Rin frowned. He had to find him if he wanted to find Ed and Al.   
Rin got up and started running as fast as he could. Thanks to his demon powers, the wounds Greed had inflicted on him were almost completely healed. That didn’t stop people from stopping and staring at his torn shirt. Rin paid them no mind. He continued to search for the homunculus, paying his surroundings no heed….until he bumped right into someone. Rin fell onto his backside. He winced before finding himself. Staring up at a lithe woman with dreadlocks glaring down at him.  
Rin instantly recognized her. “Mrs. Izumi!” he cried as he stood up. He was glad to see her. In hindsight, he should have gone to her first. They were her students after all. She could at least help track them down or would know where they had last been. “Thank goodness I found you!” he said, “Look, I need your help finding-” he didn’t get to finish his sentence as she suddenly decked him in the face. Rin was sent stumbling back, clutching his check. He blinked in shock before gritting his teeth in rage. “Hey! What the hell was that for?!” he demanded.  
Izumi suddenly grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Rin instantly shrunk in fear. “To knock some sense into you, you idiot!” she roared, “What the hell were you thinking, becoming a state alchemist?! You were eleven!” Rin gulped in fear. He had forgotten that Izumi hated the military. “And now I hear you dragged your brother into the military too?!” she shrieked, “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” She then began dragging him away. Rin whimpered and his tail wrapped itself tighter around his waist as she dragged him away.  
….   
Roy’s first reaction to this new information was shock and bewilderment. Why?! Why would Rin open that sword?! He knew full well what would happen if he did. He quickly realised that only meant one thing: he had no choice. He would have demanded Yukio tell him everything that happened right then and there, but they were standing in the middle of a train station. He didn’t need some random person overhearing. So he waited until they had gotten back to their old home. “Now,” Roy said as he followed Yukio inside, “You’re going to tell me everything. Every little detail you can about what happened to Rin.”  
Yukio sighed. He mentally cursed his brother for leaving him to explain everything. “Alright,” he said, “it started when the four of us found out the secret of the philosopher's stone…” Yukio repeated everything he had heard from Rin, only slightly shortening the story. As Roy listened, he became more worried and more enraged. These homunculus and this demon. They locked Rin up in a basement and were just going to leave him there for god knows how long. They were going to kidnap the Elric for some ungodly purpose and fake their deaths and leave them all to suffer. So many questions. Where had they even come from? Why were they here? What did they want from Rin and the Elrics? He knew Yukio couldn’t answer most of those, but there was one he could answer…  
“Where were you in all this?” he questioned, “Why didn’t you stop them?”   
Yukio sighed and looked away. “Mephisto…wanted my assistance with something,” he explained, “I wasn’t even in Amestris at the time.”  
Roy growled and clenched his fists. He was going to ring that clown’s neck the first chance he got. “Alright…” he said, “But why did you let him go this time?” “You let him go off to who knows where alone,” he said, “Rin might be strong enough to ward off any monster that comes his way like this, but do you have any idea whether he can control himself in this state?” “We don’t know what could happen to him. For all we know, the next time he opens that sword, that could be the last time we see the Rin we know,” he responded.  
“He’s opened it three times so far, with ample reason to lose it, but he hasn’t. I think It’s safe to assume for now that he can handle it,” Yukio responded, “But I will admit that doesn’t mean I’m not worried. Mephisto did give us a warning that his flames could get out of control if he leaves the sword open for too long. But he never said anything about Rin losing it.”  
Roy narrowed his eyes at him before sighing. “I’m still not happy about this,” he said, “Rin’s going to be in big trouble when he gets home...Where did you say he was going again?”  
“Dublith,” Yukio said. Roy’s eyes widened in horror. That means there was a good chance he’d run into Izumi….and he highly doubted that she’d be happy to see what he had become. “Dad? Is something wrong?” he son asked. Roy began walking towards the stairs, ignoring Yukio. “Dad! Where are you going?” Yukio demanded.  
“To plan a funeral,” he said, “Because when Izumi sees him she’s either going to kill him or come after me!” He knew he was exaggerating slightly, but he also knew that woman was a force to be reckoned with.


	20. The game is up

Greed wiped the demon blood off his hands as the cerberus and its two remaining cronies ran away. He furrowed his brow as he began walking back to the devil’s nest. The whole situation was a bust. He hadn’t gotten the kid, hadn’t gotten the sword, and he found out he couldn’t form his shield over the wound the kid made…He didn’t even get a trophy from those weird dogs. They turned into smoke as soon as he killed them.   
He was still pretty pissed about that kid. No one says no to Greed when he wants something. He was even being nice and offering the kid a drink! Stupid hormonal teen…Though he supposed he couldn’t blame the kid. It was pretty obvious he had a nasty run in with his siblings. For all he knew they might even be the reason why he’s a chimera in the first place. He cursed his family. If it weren’t for them he’d have another force to be reckoned with in his possie.  
Greed huffed as he found his way back to his bar. He kicked opened the door, as his arms were crossed from trying to stop the bleeding with his hand, to see his gang hanging around. Roa looked up at him and smiled. “Hey Greed! Where’ve you been?” he greeted bringing all the attention to the homunculus, “Did you find some rich idiot to scam?”  
Not exactly,” he responded, “I was trying to enlist someone but it didn’t work out.”  
“Eh, they probably weren’t worth it anyways,” Martel said, crossing her arms. Greed’s lips became a tight line as he his eye behind his glasses. Oh, the kid was worth it alright.  
“Hold on a second….” Dolcetto said, sniffing the air, “Why do I smell blood?” Greed frowned. Curse his dog nose.   
“Greed…” Marel said, “Why is your jacket damp...and why are you gripping your arm?” Roa stood up at that, concern written on his face.  
“Are you alright, Mr. Greed?” Bido asked, worry in his eyes as he stepped forward..   
Greed forced a smile. “Gripping my arm? What are you talking about?” Greed brushed her off, “I usually have my arms crossed. I’m fine!” He uncrossed his injured arm to brush her off, however, she used this opportunity to stretch out her arm and grab him, dragging him towards the group. They gasped when they saw the gash in his arm.   
“Boss what happened?!” Roa demanded, “I thought you couldn’t get injured!”  
“Yeah! Who did this to you?” Dolcetto piped up.  
“Relax, It’s just a flesh wound,” he said, “We can just stitch it up and it’ll be fine!” He brushed them off as he went to grab a beer.   
“Sir, get back here!” Martel snapped grabbing his shoulder and yanking him back. “We need to take care of that wound, and we need to know how it happened,” she stated firmly.   
Greed huffed and flopped onto the couch. “Fine…” he said, waving his uninjured hand in the air. Bido took this as a que to go and get the first aid kit.   
“So what really happened?” Dolcetto asked, “Was someone trying to kill you? Did….they...come after you?” Although his gang didn’t know everything about him, they at least knew Greed’s family was not fond of him and vice versa.  
Greed shook his head. “No, it’s as I told you,” he said, “I found this chimera kid and asked him to join us. Then he figured out I was a homunculus and freaked out. The nut job thought I had kidnapped his friends and stabbed me with his sword. Then the kid escaped, leaving me with this.” He gestured to the wound which Bido was now dressing.  
“He was a chimera?” Martel asked, “How could you tell?”  
“He had a tail and pointy ears,” he answered, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been mixed with a cat…”  
“You were going to have a cat-guy join us?!” Dolcetto exclaimed in betrayal, “Hello! I’m right here! Do you realise how terrible of an idea that would be?!”  
Greed rolled his eyes. “Oh, calm down, ya big baby,” he said, “I’m not going to bring the cat kid in here.” He then brought a hand to his chin. “But…” He continued, “I do want that kid’s sword. He’s apparently used it against some of my family and it’s had the same effect of stopping the healing process….That could come in handy if one of them ever comes knocking…”  
Roa, Martel, and Dolcetto all smiled and exchanged looks. “Leave it to us, Boss,” Martel said.  
…..  
Ed and Al were finishing up the chores they promised to do for their former teacher, when all of a sudden, a body came flying through the front door. They both turned in surprise to Rin now back against the wall, slowly peeling away from it. Once he had, he scrambled back to his feet, looking to the door, absolutely petrified.  
“Rin?!” they both cried. What the heck was he doing here?! Once they got over their confusion, they turned to see Izumi standing in the doorway, with an absolutely livid expression. Ed and Al shuddered as they saw her and backed away slightly from the scene.  
“Ok! Ok! I’m sorry!” Rin cried holding his hands up in surrender, “I’m sorry I joined the military! You happy now?”  
“Not in the slightest!” she growled, “If you were really sorry, you would have quit a long time ago!” There were no words to describe how angry she was. She had trusted Roy! She trusted him to keep his sons out of the military and now both of them were state alchemists long before the usual enlisting age. The next time she saw that man she was going to wring his throat. She would have sooner had her condition not allowed her to travel very far very often. Plus she wasn’t stupid. She couldn’t just attack an officer like him in broad daylight. “You’ve got five seconds to explain what the hell was going through your mind when you decided selling your soul was a good idea,” she growled, “Or I’ll introduce you to the ceiling next.”  
Rin gulped. “Actually, I didn’t join for any really selfish reason…”he explained, “I joined because I wanted to prove myself and help others, including Edward and Al.”   
Izumi was taken aback by this before glaring at the brothers. “Did you drag him into the military with you?” she demanded.  
Ed and Al froze before they frantically started to defend themselves. “No it’s not like that!” Al said flailing his arms.  
“Yeah! When we met him he was already preparing for the exam!” Ed argued, “We even tried to tell him not to help us later on and that being a state alchemist was dangerous!”  
“It’s true,” Rin added, “They did try to stop me.”  
Izumi relaxed her vicious glare before sighing. “You should have listened to them,” she said, “State alchemists aren’t here to help people as some might say. They’re lowly dogs of the military who perform whatever dirty deeds the government asks of them.”  
“Well, to be fair, I didn’t realise how corrupt the government actually was at the time,” Rin said with a shrug before wincing as Izumi glared at him again.  
“You should have,” she said, “You father should have told you about it to stop you like he promised. Though, with how he just let you join I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”  
Rin scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, about that…” he said nervously, “He didn’t exactly let me...or approve for that matter...infact I pretty much went behind his back….”  
A full minute passed in silence. Then Izumi moved across the room and grabbed him by the arm before flinging him into another wall. The Elric brothers winced. Rin groaned in pain before yelping as she hoisted him up by the front of his shirt. “Do you mean to tell me that you deliberately went against you father’s wishes?!” she growled at him.   
He shrunk into his shirt, his tail gripping his body in fear. “M-maybe?” he murmured.  
She snarled as she began to shake him angrily. ”What the hell is wrong with you?!” she demanded, “Why can’t you just take no for an answer?!”  
“Rin!” Ed cried as he watched his friend practically being throttled, moving towards them.   
“Teacher! Please don’t kill him!” Al pleaded.   
Izumi finally stopped and dropped him. Rin collapsed to the floor, still dizzy from being shook so violently. “Alright,” she said, “But I’ve got one last question for you.” She glared down at him. “Why did you drag Yukio into this?” she said, “He wanted to be a doctor. He would never enlist into the army on his own, and I suspect that after your little stunt, Roy would tell him the truth. Am I correct?”  
Rin frowned at her. “About the last part, yes, but I didn’t drag him into anything,” he said, “Yukio joined of his own accord. I didn’t want him to, but he felt the need to protect me, so he did. And for your information, he is a doctor. An army doctor. He’s saving people not killing them. Like me.” Rin looked her in the eye. “I know the reputation of the state alchemists, but you don’t have to worry. That’s not me, nor will it ever be,” he said, “I’m not going to become like that. Infact, I’ll change that if I can. I serve the people first.”  
Izumi raised an eyebrow at him. There was a tense moment of silence before her shoulders began to shake as she chuckled. “Well, you may be out of your mind,” she said, smiling slightly, “but at least your heart is in the right place.”   
All three boys sighed in relief. “But,” she said again, causing them to flinch, “You’re still in trouble.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “You still disobeyed your father when you promised to you would listen to him,” she stated, “I have no choice but to teach you a lesson.”  
Rin gulped. “Like what?” he asked. She smirked at him.  
…  
“I think I’m going to hurl…” Rin said, scrunching up his nose as he carried the bag of spoiled meat. She had charged the three boys with cleaning out the butcher shop’s cold storage room. They had just finished wiping it down and now moved on to getting rid of what had gone bad. While there wasn’t a ton that had, the smell was still nauseating.   
“I guess I should be thankful I can’t smell,” Al said as he carried his own.  
“I’m thankful we don’t have to do this on our own,” Ed said as he dragged his bag to the dumpsters near the back of the alley, “It probably would have taken us twice as long on our own.” He threw the trash bag into one of them. “But I do wonder, Why are you here?” Ed asked.  
“Actually,” Rin said, “I came here to make sure you guys were ok.”  
Ed raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. “Seriously?”he said, “Look, I know I got hurt at the lab, but you of all people know I can handle myself.”  
“That’s not what I meant!...Well I guess it is but-GRRR!,” Rin said before running a hand through his hair and sighing as he set his trash down, “I know you can handle yourself, but some nasty stuff happened in Central and I was worried that you two were dealing with the same thing.”   
The Elric brothers gave him curious looks. “What do you mean by that?” Al asked as he threw his trash bag in the dumpster.  
“Uncle Hughes and his family were attacked on two separate occasions by the homunculi from Lab 5,” Rin explained gravely. The two brothers gasped in shock.  
“What?!” Ed cried, “His family too?!” Rin nodded sadly.  
“Are they alright?” Al asked, worry clear in his voice.  
“They’re ok now,” Rin said, “I stopped the guys from killing them. Don’t worry about them.”  
Ed slumped to the ground. “This is our fault though,” he sighed as he held his head with one hand and glared at the ground, “Maes was helping us...that’s why they targeted him and his family!”  
“Hey!” Rin said, “Don’t feel bad! It’s not your fault!”  
“But it is…” Al said. He looked down and his shoulders were slumped as he clasped his hands together. “If we hadn't gone to the lab, Maes and Gracia and Elicia wouldn’t have been targeted. We were the ones who let the lieutenant colonel investigate for us,” Al said in a quiet voice, “We let someone get hurt for our sake…”  
Rin frowned. “You didn’t ‘let’ anything happen,” Rin insisted, “You couldn’t have known any of this would happen. Maes was doing his job by interviewing you and it was his choice to investigate. And if we hadn’t gone into the lab we wouldn’t know about any of this crazy conspiracy crap going on. No one would have! And it’s probably a good thing we do now because we have a chance of stopping them from going any further now, right?”  
Edward blinked at him before smiling. “You have a point there,” Ed said before getting up, “I guess if these people are willing to attack innocent people just to keep someone else quiet, then that means we can’t just let this slide. But we do need to be more careful.” Al and RIn nodded. Ed then blinked in realisation before frowning. “Wait a minute…” he said, “You said you protected the Hughes family…”  
“Yeah?” Rin said with a frown as he raised an eyebrow.  
“And you left them so you could find us…” Ed continued narrowing his eyes at Rin.  
“Yeah so?” Rin said. Ed growled and hit him on the head. “Ow!” He cried,”What was that for?!”  
“You idiot!” Ed shouted, “You left them alone! What if they come back for them now that you’re gone?!”  
“Hey, calm down!” Rin said, rubbing his head, “I didn’t leave them alone. I have a personal family friend looking after them!”  
Ed gave him a suspicious look. “Are you sure it will be enough?” Al asked.  
Rin smiled. “Totally!” he said, “They couldn’t be safer with anyone else.”  
….  
Earlier that day….  
Envy scooted along the wall of the house. He only had one shot, but he only needed one. He knew Maes was home from visiting his family at the hospital. All he had to do was sneak inside the house, kill Hughes, get rid of the body, and take his place. Simple. Sure it was going to be tedious pretending to be him, but it was better than the other mission option he was given: getting close to Armstrong by acting as a suitor to one of his sisters. He physically shuddered at the thought. There was no way he was going to have anything to do with that family. He would take pretending to be mushy gushy around Maes’ pathetic family over them any day!  
Besides, now that Rin was gone, he didn’t have to worry about anyone swooping in to stop him. Envy smirked. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing!  
“MrrrrrrrrrrrHIIIIIIISSSSSSSSS!”  
Envy froze. His eyes widened in horror at the blood curdling noise. No way. No goddamn way! This was not possible. That...thing...wasn’t supposed to be here! Roy wasn’t even going to be in town yet!  
Envy slowly turned to see the most horrifying creature he had ever seen: a tiny, fluffy black cat sidhe with big green eyes and little white paws. Kuro arched his back at Envy as he hissed again, a burning rage in his eyes.   
“No…” The homunculus whispered, “No, No no no no! This isn’t fair!This is impossible! How are you here?!” His voice got louder as he spoke, becoming more infuriated by the second.   
Kuro simply hissed at him again before leaping at his face, causing Envy to cry out and lose balance.  
……  
“Are you sure whoever you have can handle it?” Al questioned.   
“If he can’t then no one can,” Rin explained.  
Ed crooked an eyebrow. “This isn’t this Mephisto guy again, is it?” he questioned. He really didn’t trust that guy, and the last thing he wanted was for the Hughes to be in debt to him.  
“No, this is someone...different,” Rin said. He couldn’t tell them that Kuro was the one he was talking about.   
“Oh?” Al said, “Who? Do we know him? What does he look like?”  
“Well,” RIn said trying not to give too much away, “he’s short, has black hair, and green eyes.”  
“What’s his name?” Al asked.  
“Uh….” Rin stuttered, “Nero…”  
“How do you know him?” Ed asked.  
Now Rin was really drawing a blank. He had no idea what to say. He couldn’t come up with a back story on they fly! Luckily, or unluckily, he didn’t have to as they suddenly heard a low, loud growling coming from behind Rin.   
Ed an Al’s eyes widened in confusion and surprise as they looked over Rin’s shoulders to see what the source was. “What the hell?!” Ed muttered as he turned his arm into a blade. Al also got into a fighting stance. Rin frowned in worry before turning around to see what had bothered them so. When he did, his features matched their own. He saw three unearthly creatures entering the alley: two black shadowy dogs and a big red cerberus the size of a horse. Although it was injured, evident of its missing ear and the gashes on its side, it still looked like a grave threat. It growled at them before licking it’s lips hungrily. The scent of the rotten meat must have brought it here.  
“What the heck are those things?!” Ed hissed.  
“I don’t know,” Rin lied as he pulled on his gloves, “But they don’t look friendly.” He didn’t have his sword at the moment, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t use it around Ed and Al anyways.  
The cerberus barked before it rushed at them. The two black dogs followed. Rin ducked under its legs as it tried to grab him. The large demon dog skidded to a stop, but not before knocking Al over on accident. The two dogs went for Ed, leaping at him with open jaws. He simply clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground, creating two fists of concrete and sending them flying back. The hit the wall, but quickly rebounded, trying to go after him again. One latched onto his automail arm while the other went for his leg. He kicked it in the jaw once it had gotten close.  
Meanwhile Al and Rin were busy with the cerberus. It was big and it was tough. Rin snapped his fingers, creating huge bursts of flames and setting the mutt on fire, but it had little effect. It shook the flames off its coat after each blast like water.  
Luckily, physical damage still worked pretty well. Rin used his demon strength to sweep the demon’s forelegs out from under it. Al used this opportunity to shoulder check the hound, sending him flying into the dumpster.  
The cerberus snarled before squeezing out of the cramped space and kicking it away with one of its back paws. It flew through the air and landed in the street with a loud crash. The cerberus rushed at Alphonse and attempted to rip off his helmet. Al caught the middle head’s jaws open while Rin punched it in the gut. The dog whimpered before backing away slightly and growling again.   
The two black dogs were thrown into two of the monster’s faces. They turned ran off down the alley as soon as they hit the ground. “Finally that gave up…” he muttered, “now there’s just this one.”  
“What’s happened?!” a voice demanded. The three turned in surprise to see izumi turn the corner into the alley. “I heard a crash and-” she stopped and her already wide eyes grew even further in size. “What the hell,” she said, instinctively moving into a fighting stance, “is that thing?!”  
Rin blinked in surprise. “Wait, you can see it?” he questioned without thinking. Everyone else present gave him an odd look.  
“Are you kidding me, how could she not?!” Ed shouted, “It’s a giant, three headed dog! That’s kinda hard to mi-AHH!” At that point the cerberus decided to grab its prey and run. It scooped Rin and Edward up by the back of their clothing and turned tail. Rin could feel his shirt starting to rip more as the demon leapt away.  
“Brother!” Al shouted.   
“Grrr LET THEM GO YOU MANGY MUTT!” Izumi shouted before clapping her hands and slamming them onto the ground. A barrage of rock corsed across the ground before turning into a fist and hitting the hound in the diaphragm.   
The dog head yelped, letting go of Ed and sending him flying and violently jerking the head holding Rin up, causing his shirt to rip and for him to fall. The dog gasped for air, whining and keening before finally scrambling away.  
“And don’t come back, you overgrown mongle!” the housewife shouted after it, “Tch...good riddance…”  
“What was that thing?”Al asked.  
“I don’t know, but I hope it stays far, far away from here,” Izumi stated crossing her arms. She half wanted to run after it to make sure it left town, but she knew there was no way to catch up to it now.  
“Agreed,” Edward said as he pulled himself up. At that Izumi and Al moved to help him and Rin up.  
“Brother, are you alright?” Al asked. His brother nodded.  
“You two are both fine, I’m sure.You’ve dealt with worse tumbles with me,” Izumi said as she moved to give Rin a hand up, who was already in a sitting position. “Come on Rin,” she said, “Get-” She stopped mid sentence and her eyes widened in horror. “What...What is this?!” She whispered.  
Rin and the Elrics gave her a confused look. “What?” he said.   
“Teacher, what’s wrong?” Ed asked as they approached. He and Al suddenly gasped as their gazes fell on Rin’s chest. Ed moved back slightly, eyes contorted in a dark mix of anger and horror.   
“Rin…” Al asked, voice shaking, “Rin, what happened to you?”  
The boy’s brow furrowed. “What?” Rin demanded, “What are you talking about? I’m fine!” His tail clenched in frustration. What were they all so worried about.  
They all fliched. “You are definitely not!” Ed snapped at that, “I knew there was something wrong! I knew you were hiding something! Look at yourself: you’ve got a tail!”  
Rin froze and slowly looked down at his exposed chest. His heart stopped and his blood ran cold as he realised his tail was still wrapped around his torso.   
Shit….


	21. Know what we are

Roy hesitated before entering the hospital room. He didn't want to interrupt if he was busy spending time with his daughter. He had asked Yukio if he could speak to Maes after the revelation about Rin's current...condition. He knew his friend would want an explanation after the whole issue, and he wanted to know how Maes had been doing. He hadn't known about what had happened to Maes' family until after he got to the hospital. When Yukio had first told him, his blood boiled with rage. Who would be willing to do that to a child?! Roy knew the answer, but it didn't make him any less angry. It did make him feel bad though for not being there to help, though he supposed it wasn't his fault as he had been stationed in east city at the time. Still he wished he could have done something.

"And they all lived happily ever after," Roy finally opened the door to see Maes reading to his daughter. She was sitting up in her bed, Kuro curled up on her lap, purring quietly. The cat lazily opened one eye when he entered. Maes and Elicia also noticed the sound of the door opening to see Roy standing there. They both smiled at him.

"Uncle Roy!" Elicia squeaked.

Roy smiled at her. "Hey squirt," he said patting her head, "How are you feeling today."

"Ok," she responded, "My leg still hurts, but I like getting to play with your kitty! Thanks for letting me borrow him!"

Roy chuckled. "Anytime kiddo," he said. He then turned to Maes. "Hey Hughes," he said, "Sorry it's been so long."

His friend smiled at him and waved it off. "It's fine," he said, moving to clap his friend on the back. "How've you been doing?" he asked, "It's nice to see you had the time to stop by for a visit."

"Fine I suppose," Roy responded, "All things considered, I could be doing a lot worse right now." "Actually I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment in private," he said gesturing to the door.

Maes nodded. "Hey Elicia," he said looking over his shoulder, "Daddy's going to talk to Uncle Roy for a little while. You sit tight, ok?"

The little girl nodded as she continued to ruffle Kuro's fur. The cat was slightly disgruntled, but let the little girl do as she pleased. The two stepped out into the hall. Once they had, Maes removed the hand from Roy's back. When he faced him, his smile had faded.

"Well?" he said, "What is it?"

"First I'd like to apologize that you got roped up into this whole demon mess," he said.

Maes shook his head. "You don't need to apologize for that," he said, "It was my own fault, and getting roped into this demon mess is what saved my life."

Roy looked surprised. "But your family was hurt because of this," Roy protested.

"I know," Maes said grimly, eyes dark, "But you aren't the one that needs to answer for that. The one that does is Astaroth and his cronies, and I'll make sure he does."

Roy was a little taken aback for a moment by the distant hatred in Maes' eyes, but he knew he'd be wearing the same expression if anything had happened to his friend or his sons. "You better not be planning on doing that alone," Roy warned, "You aren't an exorcist, Hughes. You don't even have basic training in fighting demons. We're going to have to amass some serious resources before we can even think of challenging him."

"I don't disagree with you Roy, but you're wrong about one thing," he said. He pulled a demonology pocket book and a holy throwing knife out of his pocket. "I may not have training but I have been doing some studying," he said, "I might be able to take on some of his underlings. I think I'm at about 'x-wire' level now. At least I assume that's the case. The ranking chart in the back didn't fully explain levels of experience."

Roy's eyes widened before his brow furrowed in confusion. "Hughes, where did you get those?" he questioned.

"Your demon clown friend dropped by and gave them to me," Maes said, an annoyed look on his face, "He's a real ass by the way. How do you put up with him?"

"I remind myself he could make my life a literal hell if he wanted," he said, "Besides, at least he's helpful...sometimes. I still can't tell what he's gaining from all this, and that doesn't sit well with me."

"Me neither…" Maes said, not liking his own situation of owing the enigmatic demon king a favor. He got a very clear Rumplestiltskin vibe from him. He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that now. "Anyways," he said, "I had something I wanted to discuss with you as well." Roy raised an eyebrow and Maes motioned for him to follow.

…

Rin froze, glancing from Izumi to the Elrics with slight fear. There was a long silence. "What the heck happened to you Rin?" Ed demanded, "Where the heck did this come from?" Had he always had it? Had he just been hiding it from them all this time? He knew it had been there at least since the Lab five incident as he thought he remembered seeing it briefly, then again the day later with the fold in his clothes, and finally Al seeing him dragging a belt along did this all have to do with lab five? Rin wasn't responding. Whatever this was couldn't be good….

Rin just stared at them blankly. He didn't know what to say. He had no way to explain this. How would one even begin to explain it?

"Rin, you have to tell us what this is," Izumi said, "What happened to you? Did someone else do this to you some how? Answer me!" Despite her aggression, she was genuinely worried for the boy. She had no idea what was going on, but some part of her told her this was bad. She had the faintest memory of something like this, but she couldn't pull it to the forefront of her mind. Something she saw but never experienced. Like a flash, she remebered a creature with a long tail, pointed ears a fangs like Rin had now. Something almost human, but not. Was Rin like that?

"I-I…" Rin stutted.

"Did you or did you not have this your entire life?" she demanded, pulling him up.

"Well, no…" Rin managed.

"So when did it happen?" Ed interjected, "Did it happen when we were stuck inside the lab?" Ed had a sinking feeling about this. It had been a thought he'd had ever since they left the lab. After all, Rin did have a run in with Shou. Rin looked away, seemingly confirming his suspicion. He felt sick.

"Lab?" Izumi questioned, "Rin, what lab are they talking about? What happened in the lab?"

"We snuck into Lab five, a 'abandoned' government research facility," Ed said looking down, voice cold and quiet, "While there we were attacked. Rin was captured by a man named Shou Tucker. An alchemist that had previously done work with chimeras." Izumi's eyes widened with horror and her fists shook in anger. Did someone really fuse him to some poor animal?! What sort of hell had that man put him through? She knew chimeras that survived usually lived on in constant agony. Was that what Rin was experiencing right now? She gritted her teeth. If she ever found this Shou guy, she was going to repay him every moment of pain Rin was experiencing ten fold.

"Rin...Did someone do this to you with alchemy?" Al asked quietly.

"What?" Rin sputtered, "No! No one transmuted me. I'm not a chimera!" He was going to have to come clean. He knew that. He couldn't keep leading them on, especially after this attack. It wasn't fair and it was dangerous to them if he didn't tell them.

The tree looked confused. "Then what happened?" Izumi asked, "What did shou do to you?"

"Nothing!" Rin insisted, "No one did anything to me. I-" "I did this to myself," he admitted. Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. "To save my life," he explained, "I turned myself into this."

They all stared at him, utterly perplexed. "Yourself?" Izumi questioned eyes switching to disbelief as she clenched her fists, "What do you mean you did this to yourself?!"

"Well I didn't have much of a choice! "he defended. He sighed. "Look," he said, "I need to go inside to explain to you properly what happened." The three shared looks before hesitantly nodding. Ed put his coat over Rin to hide the tail and they walked towards the house.

…

When they entered the house the first thing Rin did was run upstairs. "Rin, what are you doing?" Izumi called furrowing her brow, "You're not trying to hide upstairs are you?"

Rin winced slightly at the warning tone in her voice. "No, I just need to get something to show you first," he called. He then came downstairs holding Kurikara.

Ed crooked an eyebrow. "Rin, why did you bring your sword down?" He questioned, "What does that have to do with your tail?"

"A lot more than you think," Rin simply said before motioning them to sit in in the living room. They did so. Izumi crossed her arms as she. Sat, nodding for him to speak.

"Ok," Rin said, "I guess I should start off by saying...I'm sorry. Because this whole time I've been lying to you." The Elric brothers shared confused looks but Izumi's eyebrows simply furrowed slightly. "The truth is, I'm not human, not entirely anyways," he said.

"We know that," Edward said.

"No, I mean I never was entirely human," Rin explained, "But I'm not a chimera either. I was born the way I am, no transmutations, no weird experiments...but certain features are only developing now cause of….reasons I'll get to."

"So if you're not a human and not a chimera, then what are you?" Al asked.

"I'm...not from here," he said, "As in not from this world, not from here. I'm from beyond the gate."

All three immediately sat up straight at that statement, eyes wide with surprise and fear. "Did you say 'the gate'?" Ed whispered.

Rin nodded. "Yes…"he said, "My brother and I passed through the gate of truth to get to this dimension," he explained. Ed felt his hand starting to shake as he looked upon the being standing before them. He didn't know what to think. It made sense though. Why he had never heard of Assiah, how he said the toll was too steep for Shiro to come with them. He was almost afraid of Rin. What was he? He had seen inside the gate. What could possibly exist in that void of endless knowledge?

Al was completely dumbstruck by the thought. He did not remember the gate, but from his own experience, nothing can simply just leave the gate. No soul can leave it. Yet here Rin was, standing before them.

Izumi stared at Rin like a ghost. She now knew where ste had see that tail before. While in the gate of truth she had caught flashes of images of eight beings with tails like his. Was he one of the creatures she had seen flashes of in there? And how was he able to just leave the gate? What sort of power does this child poses to both exist the gates of truth and end up in there world. Did that mean other souls could leave the gate? What others were living there? What about souls of the dead, were they trapped inside there, trying to claw their way out?

"But that's impossible, right?" Al asked, "Nothing can leave the gate."

"Well we didn't leave it, we were just passing through it," Rin explained, scratching the back of his head, "Yukio and I are from a realm beyond it called Assiah. There, creatures like me, demons, exist in the same world human beings."

The three relaxed slightly, but began to look skeptical. "Demons?" Ed asked, "I'm sorry but that seems a little farfetched to me."

"I can prove it," Rin said, "Watch." He then gript the hilt of his sword and pulled it from its sheath. All three instinctively pushed back in their chairs as blue flames erupted forth. The looked upon Rin, completely bewildered. Rin was covered in unearthly blue fire as was the sword. His ears, teeth and nails had elongated and in his blue eyes, his pupils had turned a shade of red that seemed to pierce one's very soul. Ed shivered as he turned to him. "My original name is Rin Okumura," he explained, my mother was a human but my father was the king of all demons, Satan."

The three stared at him slowly relaxing as he sheathed the sword. Ed had so many questions bubbling up in his mind. How did they get here? Why did he come here? How did he get across the gate? Was his brother like this two? He had so many he didn't know what to ask first.

"How did you do that?!" Al asked, "Your sword! How did your body change by opening it?"

"Oh…" Rin said looking a bit nervous, "Well, it's really complicated, and I don't even fully understand it, but from what I do get, part of my soul is attached to it, the demon part, and opening it releases that part temporarily."

The three looked horrified. "Part of your soul?!" Al shrieked in distress. Ed felt enraged by this. Who would just separate a soul like that? Wouldn't that have been painful to live like that with only half a soul? He tried to think of some way to reverse it. Was there a seal on the blade he could alter to return it to him?

"Rin who did that to you?" Izumi asked trying to stay calm, "Is there anyway to reverse it?"

"Reverse it?" Rin exclaimed, "No! Please don't try to do that!" The three looked surprised by this statement.

"But your soul…" Al said, "It's in pieces! Don't you want it to be whole again?"

"No I don't!" Rin protested, "If you put my soul back to normal I don't know what would happen! The part of my soul attached to the sword is my demon half. I'd look like that all the time and I'd constantly be catching things on fire." "Plus who knows what kind of monster I'd become if I were like that all the time…" he thought, remembering Mephisto's words. "Besides, if someone hadn't done this to me, I'd be long dead by now," Rin said.

Izumi furrowed her brow. "Rin, what do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Well…" he said, "In Assiah there are humans and demons. Humans fear demons because they attack and hurt people, but they hate Satan most of all because of how horrible he is. He's literally evil incarnate." "And so they fear his children too. They think that the children of satan would bring an end to the world….By the way, I have no plans of doing that, alright?" Rin continued, "Anyways I was born with the power of the blue flames, but my brother wasn't. We don't know why, but he's completely human. When Shiro found us, he sealed away my powers in the sword hoping he would be able to raise us to be human that way. The only way I'd return to the way I was was to break the seal and open the sword again, which is kinda what happened in lab five…which I'll get to later."

"It worked for a while, but then some guy working for the Vatican, which is the head of this religion that has priests and monks who fight demons, found out about my brother and I and we had to come here to save ourselves. They would have killed us otherwise for being the sons of Satan," he explained, "And then while I was stuck in lab five, I had to open the sword, releasing my demon powers permanently."

The three nodded, processing this information. They all had different reactions. Al felt bad for them having to leave everything they knew behind. Ed also felt bad but now hald an even greater load of hatred for the boy's biological father. Izumi was furious, but for a different reason. She wanted to wring the necks of whoever tried to take RIn and Yukio's lives due to their upbringing. However, they still each had so many questions. "But why come here?" Izumi asked, "Aren't there safer universes? I assume if there's more than one, it's not limited to just two."

"Also, why did you stay with Roy?" Al asked, "You said he and Shiro were friends, is that still true?"

"And most importantly, how did you get here?" Ed asked, "Simply opening the gate costs a toll. How did you manage to pass completely through it?" Izumi and Al nodded at that.

"Well, originally, we were taken here because there was less of a demon problem," Rin explained, "The walls between here and Gehenna, that's where demons come from, are much stronger, so not as much gets through. Shiro and Mephisto came here before and made sure of that and Shiro saved Roy's life from a demon. That's how they knew each other. You see he was an exorcist, someone who hunts demons-"

"Your previous guardian hunted and killed people like you?!" the brothers exclaimed. They had a disturbed look on their faces. Even Izumi looked a little perturbed by this. "How are you ok with that?!" Ed cried.

Rin blinked. He hadn't really thought of it that way. "Well, they aren't really like me," Rin said, "first, I'm still half human, and second, most demons don't look or act anything like humans. A lot of them are like those dog things we fought a little while ago, or those vampire moths in Risembool."

The three blinked in surprise. "Those were demons?" Al asked.

Rin nodded and the three looked confused. "But I thought you said there weren't any demons here?" Izumi questioned.

"Hold on! Let me get to that!" he said, holding his hands up, "I gotta explain how we got here first." "Ok...So we really didn't have to pay a toll to get through here," Rin said, confusing them further, "And that's due to Mephisto. He's got this weird set of keys that let him pass through the gate at will with one or two people at a time without having to pay a toll."

"He what?!" Ed cried standing up from where he had been sitting, "You're kidding me... How the heck did he get those?!"

Rin shrugged. "He sort of just does…" he said, "He's kind of buddies with Truth so-"

"Friends with Truth?!" Izumi and Ed cried at once. They were both completely baffled at the idea of the pure white deity having friends. "How is that even possible?" Ed cried.

"Would you guys stop interrupting?!" Rin said. "Anyways, Yes Mephisto and him are buddies. Why? I don't know exactly. Mephisto being an extremely powerful demon is probably part of the reason though. He's the one that can repair the walls between the universe," he continued, "Speaking of which, that's why you see demons. Sometimes holes form in the walls of the universe that separate this world from the world of demons and spirits."

"What causes these holes?" Izumi asked.

Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He didn't want to get his friends into trouble, nor did he want to make them feel bad. "It's not important…" He said.

"It most definitely is," Izumi said, standing up, "If we know what causes it, we can prevent it."

"Trust me," Rin said glancing at Ed and Al momentarily, "You don't want to know."

He hopped that would get them to stop, but instead it just gave them the answer. Ed and Al looked horrified and full of guilt at the realization and even Izumi looked guilty, though Rin didn't know why.

"It's human transmutation, isn't it?" Ed said in a quiet voice, his head low.

"Yeah…," Rin admitted looking away, "When people try to force open the gate, it causes holes to form in the universe, letting demons through."

Ed's fists clenched. He felt like the scum of the earth. They didn't just mess up their own lives, but the universe itself! They made it possible for those freaky moths and that giant three headed dog to get through. Who knows what else as happened because of their stupid mistake…

"Brother…" Al said trying to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's alright...Rin said it can be fixed, right?" Rin nodded in assurance.

"But what if someone got hurt because of us?" Ed shouted, "You saw that giant dog-demon! That could eat a person! In fact, it was trying to eat us! How many other people have gotten hurt because we messed up?"

"Edward that's enough!" Izumi said, grabbing his shoulder, "You cannot let yourself sulk like this. You could not have foreseen this outcome. While you were still wrong in committing human transmutation, there is no point in making yourself feel worse at this point. Instead you should be pushing forward and helping to correct your mistake." Ed stared at her before nodding.

"To be fair…" Rin said, "You probably didn't do that much damage. It would take a lot more than one or two transmutations to let something like that through."

"Rin's right," Al said, "We can't shoulder all the blame here." Edward nodded, although he still felt guilty.

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door. "Hello? Mrs. Curtis?" Mason's voice rang out as he opened the door, "I picked up those spices and seasonings you wanted!" All of them except Rin froze as he entered the room. He was staring right at Rin, whose tail was currently exposed, with a frown. "Rin...is that you?" he asked.

"Crap…" Ed thought, "How are we going to explain this to him?"

"Yeah, uh, good to see you Mason," he said a bit awkwardly, but otherwise calm. Izumi narrowed her eyes at Rin. Why was he so calm when he had turned into a stuttering mess earlier when they had found out his secret.

"I didn't know you'd be in town," Mason said, "...Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

Al and Ed practically fell over in surprise while Izumi simply glanced between the two. That's what he was so confused about?

"Oh…" Rin said thinking of a lie, "Well we were throwing out some trash when some street dogs came and tried to steal it from us. One of them ripped my shirt."

"Oh," Mason said nodding before smiling, "Sorry to hear about that. Hope your day goes better!" He dropped the groceries off onto the counter. He then waved as he left.

"Bye!" Rin said waving.

There was a long pause before Ed spoke up. "What was that?" he questioned.

Rin turned to him and blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

he asked.

"Mason didn't question your tail even though it was clearly visible," Izumi clarified, "Why didn't he react?"

"Yeah," Al asked, "Does he already know?"

Rin blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about? Why would I tell him? He can't even see it," Rin said. The three looked at him like he had grown a second head. "What?"he said before realization hit him. "Ohhhhh…"he responded, "that's right. I didn't tell you about that yet."

"About what?" Ed questioned, crossing his arms.

"Not everyone can see demons," he said, "To most people I look completely normal. You need a temptant to be able to see one."

"What's a temptant?" Al asked innocently.

"It's a wound caused by a demon," Rin explained, "If you don't have one you can't see them. Unless you're like me."

"But what about us?" Ed said, "I don't remember being attacked by a demon before. Do you Al?" His brother shook his head 'no'.

"Yeah...Yukio's got a theory about that," he said, "he thinks because Truth took something from you guys, that counts as a temptant or something…"

The brother's thought about that for a moment. "I guess that makes sense," Ed said, "I guess the gate of truth isn't just for alchemy…"

"Who else has temptants?" Izumi asked.

"My brother Yukio has one," he said, "As does my dad and the Hughes…They are also the only ones who know about this."

"Wait, why do the Hughes have temptants?" Ed asked, suddenly sitting up with worry.

"Well….remember the attacks I told you about? The reason why I was worried about you guys?" he started, "Well, they were kinda attacked by demons. Again, they're fine, don't worry, but Elicia still doesn't know so please don't explain it to her." Ed had brooding frown but nodded. "As for Dad and Yukio," he said, "Dad got one when Shiro saved him from a ghoul attack, and Yukio's had one since he was a baby...because I kinda...accidentally...burned him…" Rin laughed nervously glancing at Izumi to make sure he hadn't angered her on accident. She simply sighed and held her head in her hand, muttering something that sounded a lot like "why am I not surprised." Rin frowned and scrunched up his nose. He was about to respond when suddenly Ed spoke up.

"So just to be clear, those are the only people we can talk to about this whole demon thing, right?" he said.

"Yeah, unless you run into Mephisto," Rin said before remembering something. "Oh and you have to stop telling people Kuro is a chimera," Rin said, "He's not a chimera."

Izumi gave a confused look while Ed and Al looked taken aback by this. "Wait, he's not a chimera?" Ed said, "Are you telling us he's actually a demon too?!"

"Yeah, pretty much!" Rin said, giving a shrug and an awkward smile.

"Excuse me, but who is Kuro?" Izumi piped up.

"Kuro is Yukio and Rin's pet," Al explained, "He's this little creature that looks like a black cat but he has horns and two tails."

"Rin had told us he was a chimera when we first saw him," Ed said, folding his arms and frowning at Rin.

"Hey! What was I supposed to say?!" Rin snapped, "Something like, 'oh yeah, he's actually a demon and so am I! Demons are everywhere but no one except you can see them!'"

"Fair point…" Ed muttered.

"So…" Al said, "What is he then?"

"He's a cat sidhe," Rin explain, "Mephisto actually gave him to us to be our guardian in case any really powerful demon came by."

"Guardian?" Ed asked, "How does that work? No offence but he's kinda small for a full grown cat, and you saw how big that three headed demon dog was."

"Well apparently he's got some pretty crazy powers," Rin explained, "He's got super strength, is much more durable than the average cat or demon for that matter…" He counted on his fingers as he spoke. "He's got claws and teeth that can pierce through steel, he can apparently grow really big too, but I've never seen that," he continued, "And I think I remember seeing something in my demon handbook about him being able to put curses on milk or something."

Ed's eyes suddenly lit up. "Did you say milk?" he questioned.

"Yeah…" Rin said, "It's like he can make it dry up or something. I don't really remember the whole thing, I just remember that it was weird. Why?"

Ed got an evil grin on his face and Alphonse sighed. "Mind if I borrow Kuro sometime? "he asked as he rubbed his hands together.

...

Maes had lead Roy to a family room in the hospital where he pulled out a map. Roy's brow furrowed as he started marking places on it where military violence had occurred in the past few decades, all during King Bradley's reign as fuhrer.

"Alright," Roy said, "So I'm getting all this has to with our recent military skirmishes and the Fuhrer, but what else?"

"You'll see," Maes said before he started drawing on the map again. He connected the points on the map and Roy froze at what he saw. "They're making some kind of transmutation circle, but what it's for, I don't know." "Got any ideas?" he turned to his friend.

"Not exactly," Roy said quietly, glaring at the map, "But it has something to do with human transmutation."

Maes froze. "Are you serious?" he questioned, "How can you tell?"

"The pentagon," Roy explained, "It represents the five points of the human body. While I know it's sometimes used in medical alchemy for certain reconstruction procedures, but it's also used a lot in human transmutation. I can't identify the kinds of transmutations it's used for, but I've investigated enough illegal attempts at alchemy to recognize it."

Maes frowned darkly. "What do you think they're trying to do?" he questioned, "Raise an army of the undead?"

Roy frowned. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said, "I know nothing of human transmutation beyond the very basics that most every alchemist does. For all I know this could be Bradly trying to achieve immortality, or even to put everyone under some kind of mind control."

Maes' brow furrowed. "Is that even possible?" he asked.

"If someone can attach a soul to a suit of armor with alchemy, I'm sure there's a lot more you can do with souls that we don't know of. Marcoh might know, but I have no idea where he is right now," he said, "But what I do know is that the government, particularly Bradley, is involved in this some how. We can't trust the higher ups."

Maes nodded, eyes becoming grave. "What do you suggest we do?" he asked.

"Keep quiet for now," he said, "and find a way to get in contact with Marcoh. The boys might be able to tell us where he went."

Maes nodded before getting up and pulling a children's book from the shelf. Roy looked confused. "What are you doing?" he said.

"Making us not look suspicious," he explained, "If anyone asks, I was here picking out another book for Elicia. Mind getting rid of the map?" Roy smiled and nodded. He picked up the parchment and threw it in the fireplace before snapping his fingers. With the parchment destroyed, they headed out of the room, acting as if nothing had happened. However, they both had one question on their minds: If Astaroth really was involved in all this, what part was he playing?

…

Ed walked down the hall to Rin's room. He had originally been staying at a hotel near by, but they had moved his things here as Izumi allowed him to stay in exchange for doing chores until the three of them headed back to central. During the day he had been contemplating everything Rin had said today, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't terrified by it. There were creatures hanging around that no one else could see. Creatures with powers to control people and manipulate the environment without regard to the laws of equivalent exchange. And what's more: there were entire other worlds out there! Places governed by different laws, different forces of nature. It opened so many questions….but there was only one question on Ed's mind right now.

He entered Rin's room where Rin was finishing unpacking. "Hey," Ed called, "Want some help?" Rin blinked before smiling. "Sure!" he said, moving over. They were both silent for a moment. "So…" Rin finally said, "Crazy day, huh?"

Ed nodded. More silence. Rin bit his lip. "You guys are ok with this, right?" he asked, "You aren't weirded out by me being a demon."

Ed looked up in surprise. "No…"he said like the answer was obvious, "I mean it's completely crazy, but you're still our friend. You're the same person in the inside. We can still trust you."

Rin smiled. "Right," he said inwardly relieved. "Hey…" He said, "Mind if I ask you a question?" "Where were you the past ßfew days?" he asked, "I got worried when the townspeople said they hadn't seen you around for a few days."

Ed blinked in surprise before giving an embarrassed smile. "Oh that…"he said, "Yeah, teacher made us spend a few days on Yock Island to teach us a lesson."

"Ouch. Harsh," Rin said and winced.

Ed shrugged. "Eh. I've been through worse," he said casually, "She made us spend a whole month on that island when we were little to learn how to survive."

Rin's eyes grew wide. "Woah...really?" he said, "You spent a month all alone on that island as kids? That's pretty hardcore…"

Ed smiled. "Thanks," he said, before his face became serious, "Now I have a question for you." "I get the feeling that you didn't tell us everything about what happened in lab five," he said, "You said you had to open the sword, meaning whatever you were facing, you couldn't handle on your own. And later you mentioned that the homunculi used a demon to attack the Hughes…" Rin frowned but nodded. "So what really happened there?" he asked, "What didn't you tell us?"

Rin sighed. "I was hoping this could wait till tomorrow, because you aren't going to like what you hear," he said, "But alright. I'll tell you." Ed nodded and began to listen intently. As he did he found himself becoming angrier and angrier about what he heard. Rin was right. He didn't like what he heard at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: in scottish folk lore, cat sidhes could curse cows to stop giving milk for however long they pleased.


	22. Thou scarlet sin

This was the life. A blonde on his left arm, a brunette on his right, and tankered of frothing, golden, all-Amestrian beer in his hand. If he were anyone else, greed would say it couldn’t get much better than this. However, he was the embodiment of Greed. Nothing was ever enough for him. Don’t get him wrong, he loved this, he just wanted more. More women, more beer. More minions, more money. He wanted to own more than just this little bar. He wanted the whole wide world on a silver platter…  
...But for now, he was happy with this. He wasn’t his brother Envy after all. That idiot could never really enjoy himself because he was too busy trying to spoil everyone else’s fun. Greed snorted before taking a swig of his beer. The idiot was so sensitive about everything. He just couldn’t seem to be happy. Greed would never understand him. They were just too much of polar opposites.  
...Although, both of their sins were based in wanting something someone else had. Maybe they were just too alike that they repelled each other. Greed frowned as he took another swig. Sometimes he wondered if that dipshit could get over himself for five minutes, they could have actually gotten along…Nah! There was no way he and the ugly bastard would be able to sit in a room together for five minutes without tearing each other's throats out!  
“Mr. Greed!” Bido called, snapping the homunculus out of his thoughts. He turned to the geko chimera, who was wearing an excited grin. “I found him, Sir!” he practically chirped.  
The homunculus grinned. “Oh really?” he asked, “Where?”  
“He’s staying with the two other boys you were interested in,” the chimera explained. Greed’s smile got even wider. Oh ho ho...now he’d hit the jackpot! Immortality and an immortal killing sword all in one go? It had to be his lucky day!  
“Excuse me ladies,” he said, getting up, “But I have something to discuss with my associate.”  
….  
Scar flipped the page of the book as he read through it for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t much, he knew, but he had to be sure he was ready. He had to be able to face Shaitan when the moment was right. He knew he would have to leave at some point soon if he wanted a chance at stopping him, but for now he would stay here just until his wounds healed…  
“Where is he?!”  
...Or so he had planned. Scar peered outside of the tent to see two Amestrian thugs. They were antagonizing a group of his people. “We know he’s here, so tell us where he is,” they demanded, “Where is Scar?” The group moved back in fear but said nothing. One of the thugs growled in frustration. “Damn it!” he said before pulling a short scrawny middle aged man out from behind them, “little man, if you lied to us…” he trailed off, holding him up by the collar.   
“No!” the man cried, “I’m being honest I swear! Scar is here! These Ishvalans must be hiding him...” “Search the tents!” he cried and the thugs complied.   
“Yoki, how could you?”a woman cried, “After we took you in and treated you as one of our own, how could you betray us?”  
The crowd suddenly turned on him. Yoki yelped and backed up defensively. “Yeah? Well...I never wanted to be here in the first place!” he retorted, “That’s right! I was only biding my time! I will rise above you all!” He smirked. “And when I do,” he cried, “I will finally get my revenge on the Elric brothers and that awful Rin Mustang!”  
Scar’s eyes widened at that. He knew the Mustang child? His eyes then narrowed. Maybe he had information he could use against him…With that, Scar decided to step out of the tent. Everyone turned to look in his direction.   
“Hey! It really is him!”one of the thugs said.  
The other smirked and cracked his knuckles. “Alright! Let’s-” he started. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time to say anything else, as Scar quickly dashed over and pressed a palm to his forehead. With a loud explosion, it erupted into blood. The crowd gasped and one woman screamed. Scar quickly turned on the other man while he was still in shock and did the same.   
Yoki was shaking in his boots. He hadn’t expected Scar to be this powerful. He yelped as the man suddenly turned towards him and began walking over. Yoki tried to run away but he tripped and fell “P-please! I’m sorry!” he pleaded, “I was only kidding, I didn’t really want you captured…” He scrambled back as Scar got closer. “Please spare me!” he cried.   
Scar suddenly grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him up. Yoki was a pathetic and shaking mess as Scar looked him dead in the eyes. “So you know the Spitfire alchemist?” he questioned, “Answer honestly or face my wrath.”  
Yoki yelped. “Well yes, but we aren’t friends…” he muttered.  
Scar nodded and set him down. “You’re coming with me then,” he said, “You’re going to help me defeat that boy, understood?”  
Yoki swallowed. “Understood!” he said with a nod. Scar hummed in acknowledgement as he walked away to gather his things. Yoki sighed in relief and practically melted to the ground. That was close, but why was he so interest in the mustang brat? Yoki shrugged. He supposed it didn’t matter. All these ishvalans were crazy anyways...  
….  
Dolcetto heard the dog whistle on the wind from the rooftop they had been scoping the situation out on. “Looks like Roa and Marta got the tin man,” he said, “You guys have a visual on the boy?”  
“Yup,” Ulchi said as he watched from a small distance away. Bido was hiding in the alley as they watched Rin step outside. “He really is a chimera…” he noted as he saw the boy’s tail, “But why’s he just letting it all hang out like that? Isn’t he worried someone will see it?”  
Dolcetto shrugged. “Greed said he wasn’t extremely bright,” he said.  
“Well, either way, this has got to be him,” Ulchi said, “I’ll go ahead and signal Bido.”  
Rin stepped outside, surprised to find that Al was nowhere to be seen. The three of them were stuck in Dublith for a few more days as they waited to get in contact with Izumi’s friend who might be able to help them with the situation. In the meantime they were passing the time by helping out with chores. Rin had been cooking dinner and had gone out to ask Al if he could run to the store and grab something for him, but the younger elric was nowhere to be found. All that was left to suggest he had even been there was a broom that was lying on the ground.   
“Al?” he called as he walked away from the front porch to look for him, “Al!” Where could he have gone? Suddenly he heard something rustle. He looked down to see a crumpled up piece of paper roll over his foot. Rin frowned before picking it up and uncrumpling it. His eyes widened at what he read.

We have your metal friend.  
If you want to see him agian, come to the back alley on Mab street.  
Come alone, or else.

The paper caught fire in Rin’s hand and he growled as he ran back inside to get his sword. He wasn’t going to get Ed for fear of Al’s safety, but he was going to bring his weapon of choice just incase things got ugly.  
…  
The three male chimeras waited in the back of the alley of Mab street. It had been about twenty minutes since they had started waiting there. “Damn it!” Ulchi cursed, “Where is he?”   
“Do you think he knows what we are planning?” Bido asked.   
“I don-” Dolcetto started before his ears perked at a sound. “Wait...I hear someone coming,” he hissed, “Into positions! Now!” Ulchi and Dolcetto hid as Bido stood in the middle of the alley. Soon they could hear the footsteps as they became louder. A figure entered the alley way: a very cross looking, sword toting teenage boy.   
“I got your message,” he said, “Show yourself!”  
“Hello there!, “ Bido called as he stepped closer, exiting the shadows, “We’re so glad you came!”  
“Where’s Al,” Rin demanded, scowling at the short bald man. There was something off about this alley. It smelled like a barn. Literally. He could smell all kinds of animals including dog.   
“You’ll see your friend,” Bido assured, “But first you’re going to give us what we want: that sword of yours!”  
Nn. Rin glared at him as he pulled on his ignition gloves. “Not happening,” he said, “Now give me back my friend before I fry your ass.”  
“That wasn’t a request, kid,” Ulchi said, stepping out of the shadows and grabbing Rin by the arm, “Now hand over the sword.”  
Rin narrowed his eyes before turning to the man and kneeing him in the gut. “I don’t think so…” he growled. “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’re gonna get,” Rin hissed, cracking his knuckles, “But just to warn you, I don’t go easy.”  
“And we don’t play fair,” Ulchi said as he caught his breath. He smirked up at Rin. The boy gave a confused look before he heard a rush of wind from behind him. An arm wrapped around his waist and another brought a cloth to his mouth and nose. Rin gasped and thus unwittingly caused his own defeat. His eyes rolled into the back of his skull and his body went limp. Dolcetto grinned and dropped him as he tossed the cloth aside.  
“That was easy,” Ulchi said as he grabbed the sword, “We should be glad he decided to bring this with him.”  
“Yeah,” Dolcetto said before looking down at the boy with a thoughtful expression, “Hey...Maybe we should take him too.”  
The other two gave him confused looks. “Excuse me?” Ulchi said, “I thought you were the one against having him around!”  
Dolcetto rolled his eyes. “I am but think about it,” he said, “He’s a chimera like us. And if he really is part cat like the boss thinks, then he’ll easily be able to track us down.” The other chimeras frowned. It was true. Cats were one of the the world’s most efficient hunters. It wouldn’t be hard for the kid to get reinforcements and sniff them out quicker than they could prepare for. “Also…” Dolcetto continued, “We can’t leave him like this. If someone finds him...he could be sent right back to where he came from.” The other two chimeras shuddered before nodding. Dolcetto was right. They couldn’t let that happen. It was bad enough that a kid had to go through that horrible procedure but to send him back...they couldn’t do that. Ulchi picked up the boy as the three headed back to the hideout.  
….  
Alphonse didn’t know what to do. With this Martel person inside his suit, he couldn’t move. If he could, he would shudder. It just felt so wrong to have another person inside him, even if he couldn’t really feel it. He had no idea what to do, but he was sure Rin or Ed would find him soon enough.  
Suddenly the back doors opened, and three more people came walking in. “Got the kid and the sword,” the one in pure white robes with jet black hair said, jabbing a thumb behind him to the body the larger man had been carrying.  
Al gasped. “Rin!” he cried, trying to move.  
“Hey! Knock it off!” Martel called from inside of him before directing her attention at the new people to enter the room. “Weren’t you guys just supposed to get the sword? Why did you take the kid? You don’t expect to keep him prisoner here forever, do you?” she asked.   
“Let him go!” Al demanded, “If you hurt him I swear--”  
“First off, relax kid. We aren’t about to hurt one of our own. Second, what do you suggest? Leaving him in the streets where someone can find him and send him back to military labs?” Dolcetto responded, “We’ll figure out what to do with him later. For now, we’ll just have to restrain him.”  
“Fine…” Martel responded as they went and chained Rin up next to Alphonse. Al was silent as he was confused by the exchange. One of their own? What did that mean? Were they demons too? It would certainly explain their powers…and why their hideout was called “the Devil’s Nest.” The thought made Al’s figurative heart clench in fear. He was surrounded by demons. Real, live demons! Even worse, there was one sitting inside him, very, very close to his soul. If he could gulp, he would.   
“I’ll go let the boss know that we’ve got them,” Roa said before leaving the room.   
Al took this opportunity to speak. “What do you mean he’s like you?” Al questioned the others remaining in the room, “Are you not human?”  
“Good observation kid,” a voice called. Al turned to see a tall, muscular man with sunglasses and black hair. He grinned a sharp toothed grin at him. “My little gang here is made up of chimeras,” he explained.  
Al was both shocked and confused. “Chimeras?” Al said, feeling a mix of emotions. He was relieved they were not demons, but he was also confused, “But that’s impossible. Not one has made a human chimera…” ‘No one except that monster…’ Al noted to himself bitterly as he remember Nina. If these people were chimeras, they certainly didn’t look it.  
“Trust me, they’re the real deal alright,” he said, “Just like your little friend over there.”  
Al looked surprised. “Wha-You think Rin is a chimera?” he questioned.  
The man in front of him frowned in annoyance and the chimeras gave him an odd look. “What? Is everyone really so blind?!” he questioned, “He’s got a tail, you idiot! Humans don’t tend to have that!”   
Al froze. He could see his tail?!  
“Yeah, It’s pretty hard to miss,” Roa stated crossing his arms. The others nodded. They could all see his tail?! How was this possible?  
Suddenly, Rin groaned as he started to stir. “Well, well, well…” Greed said with a smirk, “Rise and shine sleeping beauty!”  
Rin slowly blinked awake, vision blurry. As it became more focused, his eyes widened as he saw the homunculus leaning over him. “You!” he shouted before he began struggling against his chains.  
“Don’t bother kid, those things are tough enough to make me have to work to break them,” Greed said with a smirk, “Good to see you again, brat. I don’t suppose you’ve reconsidered taking me up on my offer.”  
“Piss off, freak!” Rin growled, spitting at him.  
Greed laughed as he dodged it. “Would you look at that,” he said, “Cat-boy’s got some courage. Guess we can’t call him a pussy, now can we?” Dolcetto, Bido, and Ulchi laughed at this while Roa rolled his eyes and Martel banged her head on the inside of Al’s armor with a loud groan.  
Rin simply blinked in confusion. “Cat...boy?” he questioned. What was with that? The only person who called him a cat was Elicia and she was miles from here.   
“They think you’re a chimera like them,” Al whispered, “They can see your tail!”  
Rin’s eyes widened. He then looked at them in surprise. He knew the homunculus could see it, but the others too? How was that possible? Then a thought struck him.   
“Wait,” Rin said, “You guys are all chimeras?” If this were true, it could make a little sense. He remembered an urban legend that pets can see ghosts and spirits. Maybe that was true for demons as well. That would actually explain why Black Hayate would go crazy(as in more crazy than usual when a dog sees a cat) whenever he saw Kuro when Riza took him for walks. If they really were fused with animals, then maybe they received that ability…  
“Well all except for me,” Greed said, “I’ve got a lizard, a crocodile…” He gestured to Bido and Roa. “A snake hiding in him,” Greed pointed to Al. “And you were mixed with a cow, right Roa?” he asked the large man with white hair.  
“Yes…”he said, blushing slightly in embarrassment.   
“And him…” Greed said, jabbing a thumb at Dolcetto, “Let’s just say he lifts his leg when he pees.”  
The dog chimera growled at him as his face turned red. “It was only one time ok?!” he snapped. The others laughed but Rin and Al didn’t.   
“You’re a dog chimera?!” the boys exclaimed in alarm. The thought of a particular young girl they had known came to mind.  
“Yeah?” Dolcetto said, “What of it? I know we're supposed to mortal enemies, but you don’t have to act so alarmed. I’m not going to hurt you unless I have to. I may be a dog but I’m no animal.”  
“Right,” Rin responded, not entirely assured by this. He didn’t exactly know what “unless I have to,” meant after all.  
“So if you’re not a chimera,” Al asked, turning to Greed, “What are you?”  
“Why don’t you ask your little friend,” Greed responded.  
Al turned to Rin in confusion. “He’s a homunculus,” Rin said, glaring at the man in front of them.  
Al turned backed and gasped. “What?!” he responded.  
Greed smirked as he held up his hand with the ouroboros. “You heard him,” he said, “My names’ Greed. I want everything. Money and women. Power and sex. Food, status, anything you can name. And the two of you both have something I want.”  
“And what’s that?” Al questioned.   
“Well I already got what I wanted from him,” Greed said as Roa held up the sword. “As for you,” he said turning back to Al, “I want to know your secret to immortality.”   
Al and Rin look at him in confusion. “Come again?” he asked.  
“Your body,” he said, “It’s perfect. Never wither, never aging. Never needing to sleep or eat or anything!”  
“Why do you care?” Rin snapped raising an eyebrow, “You don’t need those things anyways right? You’re a homunculus, you’re already immortal.”  
Greed shrugged. “I’m built a little hardier than most but I still have weaknesses…” he glanced at Rin, “You of all people know that.” “So!” he said, “Spill it then. How’d you get your soul attached to that suit of armor?”  
“Don’t tell him Al!” Rin warned.  
The boy in the suit of armor looked down. “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t,” he said, “I can’t remember any of what happened to me. You’d have to ask the person who attached my soul in the first place.”  
Greed didn’t look perturbed. “That can be arranged,” he said before snapping his fingers. Bido nodded before scampering off. “In the meantime, I guess I’ll just play with this,” he said as picked up the sword.  
Rin’s eyes widened. “Wait don’t!” he shouted as he struggled. He couldn’t have his powers revealed in front of all these people. Even if the homunculus already knew about it, that didn’t mean he knew they weren’t only connected to him. Plus he didn’t need his gang finding out. The last thing he needed was a second interrogation.  
“Sorry, but I don’t take orders,” he said, “Besides, I’ve been wanting to see what those blue flames would look like on me for a while.”  
The chimeras gave confused looks. “Blue...Flames?” Roa questioned, “Boss, what are you talking about?”  
He smiled. “Oh, You’ll see,” Greed said. He then proceeded to unsheath the sword in a dramatic fashion. Rin squeezed his eyes shut as it opened with a loud SHINK! The chimeras all gasped as they stared at Greed. The sword was covered in blue flames...but not him.  
Greed frowned. “What?” he said, in confusion.  
Dolcetto whistled. “Woah...now that is cool…”he said, “Freaky but cool…”  
“Certainly gives me the chills…” Roa said, frowned, “But I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”  
“No!” he growled, opening and closing it again, “It shouldn’t just be on the sword...It’s…Grrrrr!” He opened and closed it a few more times, but the flames stayed on the sword. He was getting more frustrated. He had seen how the kid had managed to get the flames to cling to himself harmlessly. Why couldn’t he do it? “Why am I not on fire?!” he snapped.  
The chimeras looked at him in bewilderment. “Why do you want to be on fire?!” Dolcetto questioned.  
“Uh..Boss?” Ulchi said, an eyebrow raised as he looked in Rin’s development, “You may not be on fire but the kid is…” Rin mentally cursed as all eyes turned on him.  
Greed raised an eyebrow and the chimeras looked surprised as they saw the boy covered in blue flames. Greed opened and closed the sword one more time, causing the flames to disperse and ignite again. “Well…”he said, “This is an interesting development…”


	23. To credit his own lie

At first Rin was horrified by the fact that the true nature of his sword was revealed to the homunculus. However, now he was just annoyed as for the past minute or so Greed was just opening and closing his sword causing his flames to flicker in and out like a lightbulb. He played with it from varying distances, speeds, and with different holders opening it. Finally, Rin had enough. “Will you knock it off?!” he snapped.  
There was a pause. Greed glared at him as he opened and closed it again just to spite Rin. “First off, I don’t take orders from brats,” he said as he rested the sword on his shoulder, “Second of all, I’ll do whatever I want with it, it’s mine now.” “And thirdly…”he said, “I’m trying to figure out what the hell you actually are.” Rin raised an eyebrow, his heart starting to pick up as he felt his panic returning. “I’m thinking you haven’t just been playing dumb when we called you a chimera and you looked confused,” he said, “After all, there isn’t an animal alive that naturally spouts fire. Even with salamanders it’s only a legend.” The chimeras around him all bore looks of suspicion. “But you know about my little family,” he said, “which means you aren’t some freak of nature either.” “So what are you really?” he growled, grabbing Rin by the collar, “Are you one of their freakish little experiments? One of their minions they sent to track me down?” “Is that why you have that sword? Huh?!” Greed shouted shaking him, “Answer me willingly or I’ll beat it out of you!”  
Rin gulped as he stared the homunculus dead in the eye. He could see the murderous intent in his pupils. “I’m actually a chimera! I swear!” he lied desperately.  
“We ain’t believing that shit anymore kid,” Roa said as he cracked his knuckles.  
“No! I really am!” he explained, “It’s just the tail and the flames aren’t connected is all!”  
“Then where do the flames come from?” Dolcetto growled.  
“I-I-I,” Rin said drawing a blank. “Alchemy!” He finally shouted, “It’s alchemy. I am an alchemist. A fire alchemist.”  
The thugs gave confused looks before Greed turned back to him. “Elaborate,” he simply ordered.  
“The sword is a special antique weapon that’s been altered for flame alchemy,” he lied, “It’s got a hidden transmutation circle on it that attunes itself to me and my abilities. When you open it, it creates a spark and ignites the blade and creates a flame shield around the person the sword is connected to. That’s it. That’s how it works.” Rin thanked God he was able to come up with such an elaborate lie so easily.  
Greed narrowed his eyes. He knew nothing of how flame alchemy worked, so he had no way to prove him right or wrong. Thankfully, someone spoke up.  
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Martel argued, ”There are only two flame alchemist's in the world: Roy Mustang and his son.”  
Greed turned to Rin with an accusatory look. Rin didn’t know what to say in response to that. “She’s right!” Al suddenly blurted out, “There are only two flame alchemist's currently alive in the world.”  
Rin glared at his friend in betrayal. What was he doing?!  
“RIN here is one of them,” Al finished.  
The chimeras and Greed blinked in surprise before turning back to Rin. “You’re a state alchemist?” Greed questioned.  
Rin nodded vigorously. “Wait a minute,” Ulchi said, “Why would the military turn a state alchemist into a chimera? People would surely notice.”  
“Yeah,” Roa added, “Besides, I haven’t heard anything about the Spitfire Alchemist going missing…”  
“The military?” Al whispered quietly.  
“Because I didn’t!” Rin said, “It only happened a few days ago! I snuck into an abandoned military facility and saw something I shouldn’t have. They tried to turn me into an experiment to silence me but I escaped!”  
“Really?” Greed said, impressed. No one usually escaped them. “How?” he questioned.  
“The sword, duh,” Rin explained, “I found where they had hidden it and used it to escape. You know how effective it is against homunculi.”  
“Yeah, speaking of which…” Greed said, pointing at it, “How is that thing able to stop a homunculus’ healing factor?”  
Rin froze. He was drawing a blank. “Uhhhh….” he said, trying to come up with an explanation, “Ok, in all honesty, I have no clue.” “Seriously, I didn’t even know homunculi had healing factors. I only learned that they existed about a week ago,” Rin said, “I don’t even know where the sword originally came from, who made it, or why it was made. It has only been repurposed in the last few generations.”  
Greed gave him an annoyed look. “Neat story kid,” Greed said, “Too bad I don’t believe you.” He then cupped a hand around Rin’s neck.  
“Rin!” Al cried, trying to fight against Martel and his restraints.  
“I’m being honest!” Rin gagged, “I swear!” He really was being honest about the sword. He didn’t know anything about it.  
“Yeah right kid,” Greed said, tightening his grip, “Fine then. I hate to do this, but if you aren’t going to talk, then I’ll just have to silence you for g-”  
“Wait!” Dolcetto shouted, “He’s telling the truth!”  
Greed let go of the boy and turned to the dog chimera who was currently examining the sword. “I know my swords,” he said, before opening it, “And this thing is at least three centuries old. There’s no way the kid, or any of his family could have known who made it let alone what it’s original purpose was.”  
Greed’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Are you sure?” he said, “You don’t think my family had any influence in it either, do you?”  
“Yup,” Dolcetto confirmed, “And I doubt your family had any influence in its creation. It’s clearly very eastern in origin. haven’t seen anyone make a sword like this in Amestris. You have to get them from a supplier from Xing or farther east.” “And I can make a pretty safe guess the kid isn’t lying about being a chimera either,” Dolcetto said, “He reeks of cat. It’s practically embedded into him.”  
Rin was confused by this statement until realisation hit him. He then proceeded to mentally thank God for all the years Kuro spent sleeping on his clothing and his face.  
“Alright then,” Greed said with a sigh, as he got up, “You’re off the hook, I suppose. Not like you can do anything in your current state anyways.”  
Rin sighed in relief. But Al still had something on his mind bothering him. “I’m sorry, but if you don’t mind me asking, you assumed the military did this to Rin,” he asked, “Why is that?” Now that he thought about it, Rin was curious about that too, but his didn’t know if he wanted to know the answer.  
“That’s what happened to the rest of us,” Roa said, “Even if it was an ‘abandoned’ military base you were investigating, I doubt that the military wasn’t involved.”  
“It’s true,” Martel said bitterly, “I was nearly killed by a land mine explosion. They decided to then declare me dead and turn me over for experimentation.”  
“What?!” Al cried, “That’s horrible! Why would they do that?!”  
“You’re really questioning the motives of a government responsible for the genocide of an entire race of people?” Dolcetto said.  
Al was silent after that, and so was Rin. He was disgusted, but not surprised. After what Marcoh had told him, he didn’t think anything could surprise him anymore when it came to the depravity of the military. But he was still upset, and one thing made him angrier than anything else: the thought that the homunculi could have weaseled their way into the military to control it. It made him furious.  
He wanted to ask Greed more, but he was stopped by the door slamming open and Ed entering the room. He tossed an unconscious Bido to the ground. As he did so. “I’m surprised,” he said glaring at Greed, “I didn’t expect either of them to be able to be kidnapped.”  
Rin smiled. “Brother!” Al cried.  
“Took you long enough,” Rin said with a smirk. Ed raised an eyebrow at him before smirking and rolling his eyes.  
“So who’s the idiot who thought he could get away with this?” Edward questioned.  
“Well the only idiots I see here are you and the two currently tied up,” Greed said, “But If you must know, I’m the one running this place. And if you want the tin man back, you’re going to give me the information I want.”  
“Brother he’s a homunculus!” Al warned.  
Ed’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” he responded.  
“Jeeze, way to spoil it,” Greed grumbled, “But it is true. I am a homunculus. My name’s Greed, but I’m feeling a little generous today, so if you help me maybe I’ll help you in return. Equivalent exchange, right? You teach me how to transmute a soul, and I can teach you how to get your bodies back.” Ed’s eyes widened at that proposition.  
“Don’t listen to him Ed!” Rin shouted.  
“Roa, shut him up,” Greed said, getting annoyed. The cow chimera undid his cloth belt and used it as a gag on Rin. “So what do you say, kid?” he said, smile returning.  
Ed frowned at him darkly. “First of all, I don’t appreciate you kidnapping and tying up my friends and family,” Ed said, “and secondly, I have a hard time believing someone named Greed is going to give a truly equivalent exchange. So why don’t you leave us alone and go ask your little buddies about it first?”  
“Little buddies?” Greed questioned, “I getting a sense of deja vu here. Are you talking about the other homunculi this kid met?” He jabbed a thumb at Rin.  
Ed narrowed his eyes. “Exactly, they had their own suits of armor with souls attached. Why not ask them,” he said.  
“I would…” Greed said, “But I’m kinda disowned for spitting in their faces. Or at least I think they’ve disowned me. I’ve certainly disowned them.” “But that’s beside the point,” Greed said, “I can help you make your own homunculus bodies. Do you really want to give up that opportunity?” “Though to be fair, I don’t know why you’d want to give up a body like that,” Greed mused, “It’s perfect. It doesn’t need to eat, it doesn’t need to sleep, It doesn’t even need to use the toilet! Sounds great to me.”  
Rin glared at the homunculus. He’d protest if he could. Thankfully, Ed went ahead and did that for him. “That’s enough! You shut your damn mouth…” he growled, fists shaking.  
They turned to him to see the dark look on his face. Ed was absolutely seething. “GRAAAAAAH!” he roared, causing them to all back away slightly, “It’s perfect?! Sound’s great to you?! YOU DON’T KNOW THE HELL HE’S HAD TO GO THROUGH STUCK WITH THAT BODY!” “And you want to know how to transmute a soul?!” He hissed, “YOU KIDNAP MY BROTHER AND FRIEND AND YOU WANT TO TRADE SECRETS WITH ME?!”  
Ed’s volume practically shook the room. Rin shrank in his spot. Ed’s anger wasn’t directed at him, but he could still feel the fury coming off of him in waves. Had he always been this scary?! Rin would rather face a neberious again than face Ed like this. Maybe Izumi taught him more than alchemy after all…  
“I’m going to crush you creeps…” he snarled, “smash you! End you! I’m not going to give you slime anything!” “In other words, there will be no exchange with you…” A dark aura surrounded Ed, “You… SCUUUUM!!!!” He panted as he finished. The whole room was silent. Dolcetto was covering his ears and cowering slightly at the volume. Rin felt slightly bad for the dog chimera.  
Finally Greed started to slowly clap. Dolcetto recovered from his shock at the loud noise and grabbed his sword. “Damn, looks like we’ll have to use force again…” he grumbled before attacking. However Ed quickly kicked him to the side.  
“Next?” he growled.  
Greed narrowed his eyes. “Roa,” he said, “Take the armored kid. Looks like we’ll be dismantling him. Dolcetto? You’ve got cat-boy for now.”  
Dolcetto nodded but grumbled a little about having to look after Rin. Rin protested as the dog chimera slung him over his shoulder and Roa picked up Al. “Hey!” Ed shouted, but Greed stood in his way as he went for an attack. He caught the blade of Ed’s arm with his ultimate shield. “Sorry, but I can’t let you do that kid,” he said. Rin continued to fight as he was carried off into the sewer.  
….  
People gasped as they saw the fuhrer arrived in Dublith. People stared as he walked down the street with four swords strapped to him. his eyebrow twitched as he heard them whisper, wondering about his presence. Wrath reminded himself he had to pay them no heed. He needed to focus on his mission: making sure the Elric brothers and Roy’s son haven’t gone into hiding, as well as investigate reports of a female alchemists with the ability to transmute without a circle.  
As he continued down the street someone brushed past him as they ran down the street. “Out of my way!” the woman with dreadlocks snapped, not paying attention to him. Wrath narrowed his eyes. How rude of her. Just who did she think she was….  
His eyes suddenly widened as he recognized the woman from the information he had been given. She was the person he was sent to investigate: Izumi Curtis.  
The Fuhrer smiled. This turned out to be easier than he thought. He started following after her down the street.  
….  
Ed huffed as clutched the claw marks on his side and looked up at Homunculus. His arm was busted and he was covered in bruises. He had been lucky to discover that Greed’s ultimate shield was actually made of carbon. All he had to do was continue to weaken it before he attacked.  
“You’re a clever little shit, aren’t you?” Greed smirked.  
Ed growled. “DON’T CALL ME SMALL!” he shouted, clapping his hands and charging at Greed. Greed used his rage to his advantage and kicked him aside as he let his guard down.  
“Now I get to try out my new toy,” Greed said with a smirk as he picked up Kurikara from the ground. Ed couldn’t help but think there was something really familiar about that sword. He realised why when Greed opened it. Blue flames coated the blade as it slid open.  
Ed’s blood ran cold. This wasn’t good. “That sword…” Ed breathed, “That’s Rin’s sword!”  
“Nope,” Greed said with a smirk, “It’s my sword now, kid.”  
“Give it back, you bastard!” Ed shouted. He tried to attack Greed again, a bit more carefully, but Greed was too fast for him. He grazed his leg with the sword. Ed gripped it and hissed as he fell. He stumbled and examined his leg. It was cut, but it wasn’t bleeding too badly. The flames seared the edges of the wound, but didn’t close it completely. Ed growled. Looks that that was going to be a nasty scar.  
Greed didn’t give him much time to recover and attacked Ed again, slashing the sword back and forth vigorously. Ed ducked and dodged as best as he could. His Hair and clothing were sindged and torn by them. Ed glared at Greed who was smirking at him. Well this was going to be more difficult than he thought. At least things couldn’t get much worse.  
Suddenly, the door burst open. Ed and Greed turned to see what had happened. His eyes widened in horror as saw who stood in the door. “Teacher?!” Ed squeaked.  
She glared at him. “Did you three really think you could just run off and not put the broom away?” she snapped, “Not only that, you sneak off to some dingy bar?”  
“I was trying to save Al and Rin!” Ed protested.  
“Speaking of which,” she said turning to Greed, “Where are they?”  
“Not here and none of your buisness, lady,” Greed said.  
“I’m not taking that for an answer,” she growled, cracking her knuckles. She then noticed the sword he was holding in his hand. “Where did you get that?!” she demanded, “That sword is Rin’s! Tell me what have you done with him and Al before I have to beat the answer out of you.”  
“Teacher be careful!” Ed warned, “He’s a-”  
“I know what he is,” she said, “I could hear you shouting down the hall!”  
“Ugh….” Greed bemoaned, “Do we really have to do this? It’s no fun fighting a woman…”  
Izumi growled and ran at him. She first kicked the sword out of his hand. Then she clapped her own before grabbing his face, weakening his shield. She then decked him in the face, destroying his shield and sending him flying.  
Greed looked up with a manic grin. “Well then,” he said with a smirk, “Just what the hell are you?”  
“You ask me what I am?” she said, “Well then I’ll tell you. A HOUSEWIFE!”  
….  
Rin struggled against the chains as Dolcetto carried him off. Roa and him had split up in case Ed managed to get past Greed. They had walked several kilometers through the sewer, but Rin hadn’t given up in his attempt to escape.  
“Will you stop that?!” Dolcetto huffed, “Even if you get out of my grip, all I have to do is pick you up again. You can’t go anywhere tied up like that.”  
“NFVRF!” Rin snapped behind the cloth.  
Dolcetto rolled his eyes. “Why am I the one stuck with the willful brat…” he muttered as he adjusted Rin over his shoulder. There were a few moments of silence as Docelto continue to ignore Rin’s protests. However, that didn’t last long as Rin Suddenly burst into blue flames. The dog chimera yelped in pain and dropped him to now clutch his hurt shoulder. “What the hell?!” he hissed as he looked at Rin in surprise, “That still works at this distance?!”  
Rin shrugged. To be honest he didn’t think there was any kind of distance range to his demon powers, but he couldn’t exactly say that. Then he got an idea. If he had his increased demon powers now, then maybe….  
Rin tried to push against the chains with all his might, trying to spread his legs and move his arms away from his body. The dog chimera frowned and ran a hand down his face as he watched Rin struggle. He couldn’t touch the boy until the flames died down, but he couldn't leave him either. “Kid, what the hell are you trying to do now?” Dolcetto sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Even Greed has trouble breaking those. There’s no way--”  
CLANK!  
Dolcetto’s eyes widened as Rin broke the chains. “W-what?!” he whispered in fear as Rin got up and brushed himself off. “How is that possible?! What the hell are you?!” he demanded.  
“I’ll tell you what I’m not,” Rin said with a grin, “I’m not your prisoner!” He then snapped one of his fingers, sending the chimera flying back before he ran off in the other direction. He had to find Al and help him escape as soon as possible. As he ran along, glancing down all the tunnels, he quickly realized he had no idea where he was going. On top of that, the strong, musky scent of sewer meant he couldn’t track anyone by his nose very well. “Looks like I’ll have to wing it…” he said to himself as he ran off in a random direction.


	24. Be Bloody, Bold, and Resolute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Blood

Rin glanced over his shoulder and cursed. Dolcetto was still hounding him. It hadn't taken the dog chimera long after he had recuperated to catch up with him. Damn him and his stupid dog tracking skills and endurance. "Are you ever going to give up?! RIn shouted.

"Only once I've caught you, brat!" he snapped back. Rin turned the corner as the dog chimera chased after him. He had no idea where he was in the sewers anymore but he kept running. The two went through so many twists and turns until Rin had no idea how to get back. He didn't think Dolcetto did either. He began to pant as his endurance started to wear thin. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. Despite his demon speed, the chimera was now gaining on him. He'd never had to run this much. He was exhausted. Dolcetto, on the other hand, had the blood of a creature capable of chasing down rabbits until they literally gave up from exhaustion pumping through his veins. He'd have at least another thirty minutes before he started to really break a sweat. Meanwhile, Rin was starting to feel foggy as his steps got sloppy.

So much so, that he slipped on a puddle on the concrete floor and fell on his face. He groaned as he picked himself up. He really hoped that had just been water from a street drain. Rin tried to pick himself up slowly, but by the time he was on his hands and knees it was too late. The swordsman had caught up with him.

"End of the line, kid," he said, only slightly winded, "Now if you're through with your little hissy fit, we have to meet up with Roa and Martle." He leaned down grab Rin by the leg and start dragging him. However, the boy had different plans.

"No…." he growled, "Get away from me…"

Dolcetto only hesitated slightly, before reaching for him again. "I said get AWAY!" RIn suddenly burst into flames and rolled to the side, kicking dolcetto in the head. The chimera was sent flying back and landed in the ground a little ways away, unmoving.

Rin froze and swallowed. Was he alright? Had he...killed him?

Rin crawled over and placed a hand on the side of the chimera's neck. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found the man was still alive. Must have just knocked him out. RIn then stood up and ran off. He hoped he could find his way back soon.

…

Roa suddenly stopped in his tracks as they traveled through the underground. He could feel something from above. His animal instincts were going haywire. "Roa…" Martel asked, "Did you feel that?"

"Mmmhm," he said, grimacing, "Feels like old times."

"What?" Al asked from his place slung over Roa's shoulder, "What did you feel? Is something going on?"

Roa didn't answer. "You two stay here," he said, setting Al and Martel on the ground. 'I'm going to go see what's up."

…

Ed couldn't believe Greed just ran like that. He just bolted out the door with Rin's sword in the middle of their fight! The only reason why they hadn't chased after him was because Izumi suddenly started coughing up blood. Ed didn't know how this day could get anymore confusing and crazy.

Then he heard the door being busted down and the cocking of guns. Ed turned to see several soldiers standing in the doorway. "Everyone hold your hands up!"one shouted. Ed simply blinked in confusion. "I said hand's up!" The man repeated.

"Stop!"a loud and familiar voice bellowed. Major armstrong pushed through the group to stand in front of them. "What do you think you are doing?!"he questioned, causing them to shirk, "Were you really prepared to open fire on a clearly injured civilian and a state alchemist? Shame on all of you!"

"Major?" Ed said, "What are you doing here? What's with all the soldiers?"

"I believe I can answer that," a calm voice said. The soldiers all moved aside to let the fuhrer through.

"Fuhrer Bradly!" Ed said standing at attention. Izumi gave him a wary look.

"At ease Fullmetal," he said, "Now to answer your question, we were originally passing through here to perform an inspection in the south, however, we heard of a rather unruly band of characters around here and I decided to have my men. Investigate. It's been years since I've been involved in such an event. I felt I needed a little excitement." "You however look like you've had enough excitement for one day," he said, "Men, go make sure he and the lady are taken care of."

The soldiers nodded before moving to grab him. "Wait!" he protested, "You can't just pull me out of here now! My brother and Rin, they were kidnapped by a man named Greed and his lackies."

Wrath paused as he heard this, interest being sparked in his eye. He then turned to Ed with a fake warm smile. "Don't worry, son," he said, "We'll take care of it from here. Your brother and friend will be back here, safe and sound before you know it."

…

"Grrr…" Martel uttered as she fought against Al's movements, "Stop struggling!" The suit of armor was trying to inch away from the spot where they had been left.

"No!" he shouted, "You can't make me!"

"You stubborn little brat!" She snapped, "Why can't you just wait for the others?"

"Martel!" A deep voice exclaimed catching their attention, "Glad to see you're ok."

The two looked up to see Greed approaching them, demon sword in hand.

"Greed!" Martel exclaimed, poking her head out of Al's armor, "Where are the others? Why aren't they back yet?"

"Yeah…." Greed said, "Things have gotten a little out of hand….So we need to figure out a way out of here…"

"I can't let you do that…" a deep voice growled. The truned to see the fuhrer standing in front of them.

"What do you want old man?" Greed huffed.

"It's the fuhrer," Al gasped, "What's he doing here?!"

"Huh…." Greed said, tightening his grip on the sword's hilt slightly, "What's the most powerful man in the nation doing here?" Greed could tell there was something off about him.

"Not that you'd know, but it's not easy getting older," he said, confusing the homunculus, "This year marks my sixtieth birthday. It's frustrating when your body stops moving the way you want it too, so I'd like to finish this quickly." All of a sudden, he lunged towards Greed, slicing off his left arm.

The homunculus backed up before hissing and whistling. "Well, looks like the old man has got some moves!"he laughed, "Too bad for you, I've got a few tricks of my own." He then summoned his shield up passed his shoulder of his right arm while Pulling out the Koma sword.

Wrath's eyes widened in surprise, giving Greed a few moments to put a nice gash in the man's side. Bradley snarled as he lept away before the other homunculus could do any more damage. "Where did you get that sword?" he growled in a low voice. His eyes looked almost predatory as they locked on the weapon.

Greed grinned. So he knew of and coveted this weapon too? Interesting. He always enjoyed making people jealous. "I had a trade off with a young subordinate of yours," he said, "I've been really itching to try it out in a real sword fight. Now seems like the perfect opportunity!"

"Well too bad, you're not going to get to play with it for much longer," Wrath snarled as he attempted to remove it from Greed's hand with his own sword. He twisted one of his blades down Greed's own in an attempt to try and cause his wrist to twist the wrong way and release it. Thankfully, Greed's reflexes were just fast enough to avoid that. He attempted to slash Bradley as he jumped away but the old man was fast enough to avoid it.

'Damn…' he thought, 'This old guy really wants this sword, but why? Is he after my family for something? Seems a little too pro-active to be just for defense…' "Hey geezer!" he shouted, "Let's take this fight somewhere a little more interesting." Greed moved back slightly, hoping to lure the man away from Martel.

Wrath hesitated before deciding to play his little game. He could always go back for the chimera later. He needed to secure Kurikara as soon as possible. With that, he chased after his older sibling.

….

Rin paused for a moment. He had no idea where he was going in the dark. His flames had gone out about ten minutes ago. Someone must have closed the sword. He hoped that meant Ed retrieved it. However, that meant he couldn't see anything around him. He thought about snapping his fingers to create a light, but he didn't know if there was anything particularly flammable around him. He was in a sewer after all.

Suddenly Rin was engulfed in blue flames. He blinked. Well that was convenient...But that also meant that Ed hadn't succeeded in getting the sword back. For all he knew, he could be severely injured right now. Rin's brow furrowed. Looks like he'd have to hurry and get out of here to make sure he was ok. Still, he had to wonder why Greed opened the sword again. Who was he fighting now?

….

Greed healed as quickly as he could so Bradly wouldn't have a chance to grab the sword. This makes death number five by his hand. Shit, this old guy was insane. He really needed to be more careful.

He jumped up, attempting to slash the man before he had time to react, but it appeared he had more than enough as is, as he easily avoided the attack and used the opportunity to stab him through the gut and pin him to the wall of the tunnel they had been fighting in. Greed coughed up blood and his vision became foggy again. He cried out again as the other sword Bradley used went through his left lung. "How the hell…" he coughed as he died. His grip on the sword loosened and it fell into the water. Bradley smiled as he reached down to grab it. However, dying again wasn't going to stop Greed in his game of keep away. He slashed Bradly across the face with his ultimate shield, destroying his eyepatch and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying.

"Not a chance...Old man," Greed said between wet coughs. He grunted as he pulled the swords out of himself. He then smirked as he reached down to claim his prize. His eyes widened however, as he noticed the submerged sword was still on fire. "What the hell…" he breathed as he pulled out the sword as the flames still burned a constant blue. The first thought that had come to mind was that the kid had lied. There was no way this was alchemy. There was no way this could even be real. The second thought he had was that he had been stabbed in the back, as he suddenly felt a horrible ungodly pain in one of his kidneys.

He looked up to see Bradley standing over him. He gasped as he saw the ouroboros in the man's eye. He knew what that mean. This man...no this homunculus had the gift of the Ultimate eye. He could see any weakness. "So that's how…" he breathed, "But wait...why do you want a sword made to kill homunculi?"

"Oh...this sword is so much more than a weapon," Bradley said, "Maybe if you hand it over and come back with us quietly, Father will be kind enough to let you know."

Greed smirked despite his situation. "Sorry, but I'm not the type to share," he said suddenly gripping the hilt in one hand and trying to push himself up. Wrath's eyes narrowed and he stabbed the arm gripping the hilt. Greed cried out and let go of it. Bradley reached out his hand for it, when Greed suddenly moved forward and bit him, further injuring himself in the process. He held the hand firmly in his jaws as he reached up and grabbed him with his free arm and threw him across the sewer. "I told you, I don't share," he growled. He then pulled the sword out of his arm and then pushed himself off the ground Before pulling the second one out of him.

"If you want it, you're going to have to pry it from my cold dead claws!" he shouted as he grabbed the sword and ran. He didn't know what Father wanted it for, but he knew he couldn't let him have it. Not that he would have let anyone take it from him, but this kind of power wasn't something he could just hand over. At the same time, he knew he couldn't win against Bradley. He had no idea how to counteract the Ultimate eye. Bradley had come close to taking it from him several times in the past few minutes and had managed to kill him more than Greed was able to leave a real mark on him. Looks like he'd have to find a more creative way of keeping his prize safe.

….

Rin came to a fork in a tunnel as he tried to retrace his steps. He turned and went through one end, hoping it would lead him to the other chimera and Al. To his delight, he could see Al trying to crawl away a few meters down. He smiled and was about to shout his friends name when all of a sudden, he was grabbed from behind, a hand covering his mouth as he was pulled away. He was then pinned against a wall, hands above his head and mouth still being covered. His eyes widened as his captor glowered down at him: Greed.

"You lied to me," he growled, "I saw it fall into the water and still retain its blaze. The sword isn't powered by alchemy at all." Rin swallowed, realizing he had been found out. "I bet you're not even a real chimera either," he snarled moving his face closer to Rin, "I hate being lied too. Just like I hate not knowing things." "But you know what I know for sure?" an evil smirk crossed his face. As he spoke, "You aren't one of my family's minions either." The kid couldn't be, otherwise Bradley would have taken the sword from him already. "Which means…" he said, "You're still up for the taking." He suddenly slashed a pretty deep gash into one of Rin's shoulders. He hissed in pain and Greed let go of his arms so he could clutch it.

He was about to ask what that was for when Greed spoke up. "Consider it a brand, kid...Plus payback for the lies," he said, "You're working for me now as one of my minions. Sorry I couldn't come up with a more formal contract for you like the others, but we don't exactly have the time for that."

Rin glared at him. "And if I refuse?" he said.

Greed held up the Koma sword. "Then I break this," he threaten. It was a mostly empty threat, as Greed would never destroy something he wanted unless he had absolutely no other choice. But hundreds of years of poker taught him how to perform a good bluff.

And Rin fell for it. "You bastard!" he growled, reaching for it. Greed summoned his ultimate shield and stopped him.

"SHHH!"he hissed, "Do you want him to hear us?"

Rin blinked in confusion. "Who's hi-" he started before Greed clamped a hand over his mouth.

"I said shut up!" he whispered/snapped. "Look, I've got a special mission for you," he said before handing him the sword, "You're going to protect this with your life, got it?"

Rin gave him a confused look. "You're...Giving this back to me?"he questioned.

"No, you're keeping it safe for me," he said, "I fully intend on retrieving it if I make it out of this alive."

"What if I don't give it back?" Rin said, narrowing his eyes.

"Let's just say I don't take kindly to treason," he said with a smirk, showing his claws. The smirk fell when he heard distant footsteps. "Shit...he's almost here," he growled, "Look, You have to understand, you can't let this sword out of your sight for a second. Don't trust anyone with it, got it? Not your friends, not your superiors, and especially not Bradley."

Rin gave a confused look. "Why specifically not-" he started but was cut off by Greed again.

"No time for questions, idiot!"he growled, "Get out of here!" With that he pushed him down the tunnel. Rin blinked before taking no time to run away.

Greed smiled as Wrath entered the tunnel. "Where's the sword, " the other homunculus demanded.

"You're too late," he said, faking annoyance and frustration and acting like he was picking himself up from a fight, "Some kid already jumped me for it. Freak came out of nowhere."

Wrath narrowed his eyes. "I'm not leaving here empty handed," he growled, "Though I suppose I can settle for bringing you back on a silver platter." With that, the homunculus rushed him. Greed fought tooth and nail, but when the old man pinned him to the ground by the nodes on his collarbones, there was nothing he could do. He glared at the fuhrer in his paralyzed state as the man walked away.

….

"Al!" Rin cried. The armored boy paused mid crawl and looked up as Rin ran over to him.

"Rin!" he cried, "Thank goodness. I was worried about you."

"Wait a minute," Martel said, "If you're here, then where's Dolcetto?! If you did anything to him, I swear..."

"Don't worry, he's fine," Rin said, "Or at least he will me when he wakes up…"

"When he wakes up?" Martel questioned, "So you did hurt him!"

"Well it's better than killing him!" Rin said, "Besides, he knocked me out first, so it's all fair and square now."

"Uh, Rin?" Al said, holding up his hands, "Would you mind helping me get these off?" RIn nodded and removed Al's hands and feet before sliding off the chains and reattaching them.

"There," he said, "Now we can actually get a-"

Al's arm suddenly jerked forward and punched Rin in the blinked in surprise and rubbed his nose before frowning at Al. "What the hell man?!" He shouted.

"Sorry! It wasn't me!" Al said.

"That's for hurting my friend," Martel said from inside the armor.

Rin growled. "How about you get out here and fight like a man, you snake!"he snapped. He clawed at Al's armor to try and drag her out.

"You know, that isn't an insult anymore," Martel responded dully.

"Hey!" A voice bellowed. They turned to see Roa standing behind didn't look like he was in very good shape. His arms were covered with bullet wounds. "What the heck is going on here? Where's Greed and Dolcetto?"

"The cat kid over there knocked out Dolcetto," Martel said, "As for Greed we don't know what happened to him."

"I can answer that," a calm voice said. Rin felt a chill run down his spine and a foreboding feeling in his chest. They all turned to see the fuhrer standing there. "Your leader, the one you call Greed has been personally taken care of," he said, "So I ask that you submit and leave those boys alone." Despite his heroic sounding words, Rin had a feeling that he would do something terrible to the chimeras whether they submitted or not.

Roa seemed to notice this too. "Sorry, but I'm a bit bullheaded," he said, "It's going to take a lot more than a few polite words to get me to stand down." He then turned slightly to Rin and Al. "Run!" he whispered, "Get Martel out of here!"

"What?!"the boys hissed.

"Roa!" Martel exclaimed.

"No objections," he said, "Get out of here."

"But you're badly injured!" Rin said, "He'll kill you if you fight him!"

"And if you fight him, you'll be committing treason," Roa reasoned, "I'm a cow, kid. I was going to be put up for slaughter some day. At least this way it was my choice. Besides, I'm not about to let some kid be put on the chopping block for my sake. Now go!"

Roa charged at Bradley while Rin helped Al up. "No!" Martel protested, "Roa! We can't just let him die!"

"We can't let his sacrifice be in vain either," Rin said looking away from her as he pushed her along. Rin sympathised with her but he had to fulfill his promise. His legs shook as he pushed her forward. Part of him wanted to just let her go. As much as he wanted to go back there and as much as it sickened him to let that man die, he had a job to do. If he couldn't save Roa, he could atleast try to save her.

"Please, Martel!" Al said, "He told us to protect you!"

"No!" she continued to protest trying to stop Al as she heard the sound of metal meet flesh, "I can't just stand back and watch my friend die!"

"I don't want to either, but we don't have a choice Rin said, getting more and more furious with the situation. His mind was screaming at him to run back there. He had to remind himself that if he went back there to save Roa, he'd not only be putting himself on the chopping block, but also be putting his family and Ed and Al under suspicion of treason too. "There's nothing I can do…" He repeated to himself, getting angrier at the lie each time.

Finally there was a slashing noise and Roa gave a strangled cry. They all turned in horror to see Roa sliced into minced meat by the leader's swords. Rin froze, seething with rage and frozen in horror. He wanted to act, but he couldn't. Martel, however, could. "NOOOO!" Martel screamed. She took advantage of Alphonse's shocked state to control the armor. She ran towards him. "BRADLEY YOU BASTARD!" she cried as she ran towards him with murderous intent. Bradley merely glanced at her before leaving Roa's body floating in the sewage and charging at her.

Rin became unfrozen for a moment as he saw what was going on. "Martel no!" He cried, preparing to snap his fingers. However, it was too late. In a split second, the fuhrer jumped into the air sunk his sword into the opening in the suit of armor between the helmet and the chest plate.

"NO!" Rin cried as he heard the gurtled cry of pain from the suit and Al's distressed noise. The suit fell over and Bradley retracted his sword as ALphonse went blank from shock. "ALPHONSE! MARTEL!" Rin cried before running over to them. His heart was racing as he knelt down beside the suit of armor. "Al, are you ok?!" Rin said, noticing how unresponsive the suit of armor was, He could still see the soulfire eyes in the helmet, so nothing had happened to his seal. That only relieved Rin slightly as he opened up the suit's chest to see if there was any chance of saving Martel. When he did, he saw he had hoped in vain.

Rin felt himself shaking as he stared down at the pained, glazed over eyes of the dead chimera. Her face was frozen in a mix of rage, pain and sorrow. The sword had cut straight through her heart. "Martel…"he whispered, gripping her shoulders, "I'm sorry…" He hadn't known the chimera long. He hadn't even liked her all that much. But he knew she hadn't deserved to die like this… He knew she had been through hell at some point. She should have had a better end, but now….

"Are you alright, boy?" the Fuhrer said in his usual kindly voice that didn't seem so kind anymore, "Don't worry, the monster's gone now. It can't hurt you or your friend anymore."

Rin gripped Martel's shoulders as his arms and shoulders shook. Smoke curled up from the tips of his fingers. Before he had been experiencing a mix of emotions: fear, despair, guilt… But now only one had a place in his mind: rage. His fury was indescribable. He dared not look up, or else he might try to rip the man's throat out. "Th-thank you, Sir…." He managed to bite out, still not looking up. But the truth was, Bradley had done nothing. The monster was still here, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn it this was a lot of work...I hate writing fight scenes...You have no idea how many times I rewrote the outline for this just because of the fight scenes. The Greed vs. Bradley one? At least five times. I ended up cutting one all together because I was so unhappy with it. Still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!


	25. Let Slip the Dogs of War

Dolcetto groaned as he awoke. His head throbbed and his vision was blurry. “What happened…” he muttered as he rubbed his hear. His eyes suddenly widened as it all came rushing back to him. How the freak had escaped, how he had chased him down. “Shit!” he thought, “Well, I better go track him down or Greed’ll be pissed.” He then got up and began sniffing the boy out. One of the great things about being part dog was the nose. Although, it was a bit hard to distinguish the scent of people from the overpowering scent of the sewage, but if he really concentrated on a familiar scent, he could easily track it back to the source.  
He walked aimlessly around for a while, following Rin’s blind stumbling in the dark. He went in circles for what felt like hours. “This is getting ridiculous, just how far had this kid gone….” He was starting to get annoyed. He hopped he would run into him soon or-  
Dolcetto stopped when he saw a huge stain on the ground and smelled the overpowering scent of iron. His eyes widened. It was blood. But not just any blood, It was Greed’s blood. He could smell the homunculus’ sweat and callone all over the place. There were a few more scents he couldn’t identify, but one he definitely could: Rin. He narrowed his eyes as he examined the scene. There were slash marks all over the concrete. There was a sword fight, and form the looks of it, Greed lost.   
Dolcetto’s eyes widened. No way...Had that kid really defeated Greed? That’s impossible! Greed was unkillable...well almost anyways. Besides! There wasn’t even a body!  
...But if he did kill Greed for good...there wouldn’t be a body. He remembered the first time he saw Greed lose a limb, how it just disintegrated. He swallowed. No. Greed couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t die that easily. Maybe the kid had knocked him out and dragged the body away! He continued to follow the scent, but to his horror he quickly found a sight that suggested his boss hadn’t been spared...and confirmed no one else had: He saw Roa’s body, mangled and bloody, floating in the sewer. He looked like he had been cut up by a sword’s man, most likely with a katana of some kind. “Just like the kid’s….” he growled, fist shaking. He couldn’t smell anything but sewage on Roa’s body, but he could smell the kid all over a different spot: A pool of blood that smelled distinctly like Martel.   
Dolcetto’s eyes widened. “Martel?!” he breathed. No...it couldn’t be! He ran over to the pool. Yes...it was indeed hers. And from the size of it, there was no way she was still alive.   
And he could smell the boy’s scent lingering around it. “But where was the body?!” he questioned. Then he remembered Martel had been in the boy’s suit. He must have killed her while she was still inside. Dolcetto broke down and pounded his fist on the ground. Most of his friends were gone. That boy had killed them in cold blood! And if he dispatched Roa and Greed so easily, there was little chance that Bido had survived any encounter he may have had with him….  
Dolcetto picked up his sword and glowered at the ground. His fists shook. Determination filled him. He wasn’t going to let him get away with this. He was going to avenge his friends. That boy had taken everything from him...so he was going to take his life in exchange. Dolcetto began walking back towards the devil’s nest. Maybe there were a few more allies there he could round up….  
…  
“Al?”a voice called, “Al wake up!”  
“Al! Come on buddy, snap out of it!”  
Alphonse he heard the voice call from god knows where his mind was. He was in some kind of swirling tunnel filled with knowledge. He had seen many strange things. Verses of some kind of scripture poured into his mind. Transmutations circles that didn’t look like transmutation circles flashed into his mind. Strange words popped in and out of his head with each one, such as devil’s trap, and michel’s barrier. The strangest had been an image of a woman with brown hair speaking to a wolf covered in blue fire. Then the images stopped and he was in some kind of strange body, looking at his brother. Finally, as the voices cried out to him again, he was in a brightly lit hallway. His soul fire eyes focused on the faces in front of him. Ed was sitting there and so was Rin. Both were smiling, though Rin’s didn't reach his eyes. “Rin? Ed?”he said. Then he noticed the trail of blood on the floor. “Rin! Ed!” he cried, “Are you alright? You’re covered in blood. What-”  
Rin’s face fell. “It’s not ours Al…” He said in a low voice as he looked away, “It’s….”  
“It was that woman’s who was inside you…” Ed said grimly. He then gestured to the covered body behind them. Al gasped as he saw her boots peeking out from underneath the sheets.  
“M-Martel?!” he squeaked.   
“We...thought it would be best to remove her before you awoke…” Armstrong said behind them.  
Al covered his face. He would cry if he could, but since he was stuck in this suit he couldn’t. “I couldn’t save her…” he whimpered.   
Ed and Rin looked down. Ed’s eyes were filled with sorrow while Rin glared at the floor in rage. “It’s ok Al, you can’t blame yourself,” Ed said.  
“But I can blame myself…” Rin thought as he bit his lip. He should have done something. He should have stopped Bradley, but he didn’t.  
Ed then forced a smile. “Come on Al,” he said, “Let’s get you home and cleaned up, alright?”  
“Hold it you three,” a calm voice said. Rin’s fist clenched and he bowed his head as he grimaced. The turned to see the fuhrer standing there. “I have a few questions for you before you can leave,” he said. Ed stood up to face him. Rin Stood up but didn’t look at the Fuhrer. “Have any of you had any previous dealings with the man called Greed?” He questioned.  
“Of course not,” Ed said.  
“No,” Rin simply responded.   
“Did you trade any manner of information with him?” Bradley pressed.   
“No,” Ed said, “And the military wasn’t even mentioned once.”  
“That’s not what I meant,” he said, voice growing dark, “If you exchanged any information with him that could have endangered the military, I’ll execute you right now. So I ask again, Did you make any kind of a deal with him?”  
“The only thing that we exchanged with him were punches,” Rin said, glancing at the Fuhrer. His tone was confident and fearless.  
“Oh? And how did you get that sword from him?” Bradley asked.  
Rin’s eye twitched slightly. “I attacked him and stole it from him,” he said.   
Bradley stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Very well,” he said, “Now I have one more question for the two of you.” He turned to Ed and Al. “I’m curious about your steel arm and your brother’s metal body,” he said, “Are they in anyway connected?”   
All three boys froze as they realised the Fuhrer knew their secret. But then the man suddenly laughed. “You really are an honest kid!” he said with a smile, “Alright men, pull out.” He turned to leave and the boys relaxed. Rin went back to glaring at the ground.   
King Bradley suddenly paused as he noticed this. “Major Mustang,” he said, “Is everything alright?”  
Rin told himself to just say nothing was wrong. He could hear his brother and his father’s voice begging for him to keep his cool, but he didn’t listen. “No. I’m not alright,” he said, turning to face the Fuhrer. “I think what has happened here today was wrong,” he stated, looking the man in front of him dead in the eye, “You had these men kill dozens of people for no good reason. They may have been criminals, but they at least deserved a trial. You can’t just come barging in here and killing people! This is a bar, what if you shot an innocent bystander? We won’t know because they’re dead!”   
Everyone looked at the boy in shock. “Young Mustang-” Armstrong said, placing a hand on his shoulder, but Rin sent him a furious glare that told him to back off. The larger man blinked in surprise. He had never seen such a vicious look on anyone but his eldest sister.   
Rin turned back to the Fuhrer. Bradley narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you questioning my authority, son?” he said in a low and quiet tone.  
“No, I’m questioning your rational!” Rin responded, “Or lack of any, because there was no reason for you to come barging in here! This was a small band of thugs. Edward and I had this under control. We could have escaped without your help, and I had already done so. And even if we did need your help, you didn’t need to kill everyone! None of these people were armed with guns of any kind. All you would have needed to do was incapacitate them, but instead you slaughtered them.”  
Ed and Al looked on in surprise as the two stared down one another. Armstrong moved again, this time to the fuhrer. “Please, Sir,” he said, “Disregard his words. He did not understand the full weight of the situation, and-”  
The fuhrer suddenly laughed. “No need to cover for him,” he said, “I appreciate the boy’s honesty and thoughts. I’m not getting any younger, so it’s good to see future generations thinking about how our military is run. Maybe he could become an advisor to the next fuhrer, eh?” He then turned to leave. “In the meantime, take care of that new sword of yours, boy,” he said as he waved goodbye, “It’s very special, as I’m sure you’ve discovered.” Rin’s eyes widened before they narrowed again. He saw the sword in action, but did he know what it really was?   
…  
Dolcetto opened the secret entrance to the devil’s nest ever so slightly, only to his horror to discover the place was crawling with military personnel and the bodies of his fellow chimeras were strewn everywhere. Dolcetto was seething with rage. The kid brought in the military?! Dolcetto supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He was a good for nothing state alchemist after all. Still he couldn’t believe how that kid could betray his own kind. He couldn’t believe he had actually tried to protect that kid by dragging him out of that alley. He wanted to rush in there and slash the throats of everyone responsible, particularly Rin, but a more rational side of him said he wouldn’t get very far. He’d have to be able to get the kid alone before he’d be able to exact his revenge. Dolcetto quietly closed the door and headed back into the sewers, deciding to get out of Dublith and find a safe place to hide for a while.  
….  
Later that evening, Ed and Rin were finishing up cleaning up Al’s armor. While they were doing so they were explaining what had happened to them. “And this guy named Greed? He had an ouroboros tattoo like the guys from the lab,” Ed said, “He didn’t seem to be in league with them but he’s definitely connected to them.”  
Major Armstrong nodded as he wrote this down. “I’ll make sure to tell the Lieutenant Colonel about this right away,” he said, “In the meantime, you boys don’t do anything Rash, alright?” Rin and Ed nodded while Al just sat silently to the side. “Good,” he said, “Now have a good night.” The major then began to walk away.   
Once he was out of sight, Al spoke up.  
“Brother...They’re back,” he said, “my memories.” Ed perked up but Rin looked confused.   
“What memories?” Rin questioned.   
“Al’s memories of the gate,” Ed clarified, “What did you see?”  
“Well…”he said, “It was pretty weird…” “I saw lots of strange things, like transmutation circles I never knew existed…” he said, “But I don’t think I saw anything that could get our bodies back.”  
“That’s Alright Al,” Ed said, “Don’t feel bad.”  
The suit of armor sighed. “But we haven’t made any progress…” he despaired.  
“Not true,” Ed said, handing him his gauntlet back, “You remember what the fuhrer told us back in Central?”  
“Oh!” Al said, “You mean about the unrest in the higher ups and about the philosopher’s stone? I heard he was looking into that...and the homunculi.”  
“Yeah, well I don’t know if he’s really all that interested in looking into it…” Rin said, crossing his arms. He remembered Greed’s words. He was starting to think they were true.  
“By the way, Rin,” Ed said before hitting Rin over the head with a towel, “what got into you? How you just snapped at the Fuhrer like that… you could have gotten into some serious trouble! Especially considering he just got done threatening to excuse us.”   
Rin sighed. “I know but….” he said, “I just couldn’t let myself just stand back and let him get away with that without even one word against him. I had to just stand by and watch Roa and Martel die, even though I could have done something and it made me feel sick.” “I can’t do that again. I just can’t sit back and be a passive observer,” he said clenching his fists.  
Ed gave him a sympathetic look. “I know how you feel,” he said, “But I don’t know if we have much of a choice…” “Still, that doesn’t mean we have to back down,” he said, “You had a point. Bradley said he wanted to find these homunculi. If Greed really was connected to them, then why slaughter everyone? Why not capture them for questioning?”  
“Yeah, and what was he doing here in Dublith in the first place?” Al added, “And why did he lead the attack on such a small group?”  
“Whatever the reason was, it can’t be good,” he said, before taking a breath. “Guys...there’s something I have to admit,” he said, “There was a point in time before I met up with you Al where I was alone with Greed, and he told me we couldn’t trust our superiors, but most of all that we couldn’t trust Bradley...And I think he might be right.”  
Ed narrowed his eyes while AL looked surprised. “You trust Greed?” Ed said incredulously.  
“I trust him more than the man who slaughtered dozens of people in an afternoon for no good reason,” Rin responded.   
“You have a point there…” Ed said in agreement. He narrowed his eyes. “No matter how we look at this, none of it adds up. We’ve been warned...But we need to get closer,” he said.  
….  
Greed sighed in the dark. Deep down he knew this was going to be the end, but it was still him who got the last laugh. The sword was safe. He didn’t know what they wanted it for but it didn’t matter. They weren’t going to get their grubby little hands on it. However, he did not feel completely fulfilled. Bradley or whatever he really was had slaughtered all of his fre-possessions. He wanted more than anything to rip his throat out as many times as he could. However, in his current position, that didn’t look possible. He grumbled. Looked like he was going to leave this world with regrets.  
“Oh, and I made a rather unexpected catch,” the fuhrer said. Light suddenly poured down around him and he flinched at it.  
“Well isn’t this a blast from the past…” Lust said, a smirk in her voice, “I haven’t seen that face in over a hundred years. What happened Greed, did your ultimate shield finally fail you?”  
Greed smirked. “Oh look, the gang’s all here,” he said, “Good to see you Lust the lascivious. You can pierce me with your ultimate spear any day.” He then turned to the portly homunculus. “Hello Gluttony the voracious. Still haven’t found the right diet yet, have you?”he teased. “And little Envy the jealous,” he sneered at the long haired homunculus, “Please, for the last time, get a new outfit.” Envy hissed at him in response. “So, where’s Sloth the indolent?”he asked.   
“Oh, we’re keeping him busy,” Lust said.  
“Hmmm….” Greed uttered, “So who’s the new guy?”  
“I am Wrath the Furious,” he stated, not facing Greed.  
The bound homunculus whistled. “Wrath and Bradley one in the same,” he said, “Now there’s a twist.” He then smirked. “Too bad you’ve all stayed the same,” he said, “Particularly you, Envy. Still ugly as ever.”  
The androgynous homunculus bristled. “Say that again,” he growled as he stood up, red lightning dancing around him, “Do it! I dare you. Say it again and we’ll see how fast I can tear you apart!”  
Greed knew he wouldn’t actually be able to hurt him, even in his current state. Someone would stop the little imp. However, he did not expect who would do it.   
A foul smelling vine of some kind suddenly smack Envy in the back, sending him stumbling. “Stop it, fool,” a low voice growled as a man with ram horns stepped out into the light, “Your father won’t appreciate such behavior.”  
Envy glared at the man but backed off, as if he was slightly afraid of him. The rest of the homunculi seemed equally warey. Greed raised an eyebrow curiously. Who was this guy? What was he? And why were the others so nervous. “Um, I’m sorry but,” Greed started, grabbing the attention of the man(?), “Who the hell are you?”  
The being smiled up at him a jagged toothed smile as his glasses flashed menacingly. “Hello Greed,” he said in a polite tone that the homunculus didn’t trust, “My name is Astaroth. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”  
“Yeah….You too pal…” he responded carefully, “So what are you, some kind of chimera?”  
The being laughed at him (in a clearly mocking tone, Greed noted). “Oh no,” he said, “I am not one of those filthy beasts you allied yourself with. I am simply a humble servant of your father. By the way, I believe he wishes to speak with you.”  
“Thank you Astaroth,” Father said closing his book, “Greed, You are both my son and a part of my soul. So why would you betray your loving father.”  
“I’m surprised you’d ask,” Greed sneered while blinking innocently, “I mean you know the answer better than anyone, Dad. You made me this way. I’m Greed the avaricious. I’m just being myself. I just had larger ambitions than spending my life working for you!”  
Father paused. “And if I asked you to return and work for me again?” he questioned.   
Greed chuckled. “Never!” he growled.   
Father narrowed his eyes but did not look at Greed. “As you wish,” he said. Suddenly, the sound of grinding gears could be heard. A trap door opened up beneath Greed to reveal a vat of molten material. Astaroth smiled at what was about to happen. Oh, this was going to be fun to watch. Just like watching the souls of the damned being boiled in the unyielding pires back home, only not quite as magnificent.  
Greed swallowed as he was slowly lowered down to it. “Jeez,” he joked, “Talk about cheesy.” As he touched it, he cried out in pain. The other homunculi looked on, faces stoic but inwardly uncomfortable. All of a sudden Greed started laughing. “Why don’t you come on in, kids! The water’s fine!”he cried out, voice cracking as he laughed like a madman, “Nice and hot, like the fires of hell!”  
“Trust me!” Astaroth called out, “The fires of hell are much hotter, but you’ll soon find that out!” The demon chuckled slightly. Envy glanced at him, slightly unnerved by the demon. While he was always one for deriving pleasure from other’s pain, he had a hard time understanding how he could find this situation so amusing. Didn’t he understand that father would do the same to him if he failed him?  
Greed looked over to the demon with a deranged smile. “I’ll send you a postcard and let you know what they’re like!” he laughed, “And when the rest of you get there, I’ll be waITING FOR YOOOUUU!”  
“Say hello to my brothers for me!” Astaroth added.   
Father glance at the demon before speaking. “Now return from whence you were born,” he said raising his hand, “Return to my depths and rejoin my soul. Return, Greed!”  
“IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT DAD!” Greed cried with a wicked grin, rumbling coming from the vat, “BUT DON’T BE MAD WHEN I GIVE YOU A STOMACH ACHE!” Noise like a storm filled the room. As Greed was completely melted down, it finally stopped. A red liquid was syphoned from the vat and into a wine glass that Father drank from. After that, the homunculi were dismissed. Envy lingered for a moment, staring at the vat. While he couldn’t say his brother didn’t deserve it, that didn’t make it easy to watch. He shuddered at the thought of himself being in that vat.   
“Well that was certainly fun,” Astaroth said, also looking up at it, “Too bad, though. I quite liked that one’s spirit. It would have been fun to break it myself.”  
Envy didn’t know how to respond to that. While he wouldn’t deny he enjoyed breaking someone’s spirit, the fact that Astaroth was talking about his family made things different. He wasn’t sure quite why he felt this confliction. It was true that he hated Greed, but….well he disliked all of his family but he still had some semblance of loyalty to them. They were all homunculi, after all.   
“Well, at least we got a good show out of it,” Astaroth said before turning to leave. The homunculus watched the demon walk away. As he did, he felt his contempt for the demon increase.   
….  
It was night in the quiet village. Dolcetto slept in the alley. While he had managed to hop a train for a few miles in his journey, he had to jump before he reached a military inspection point, causing him to have to walk the rest of the way to the small town. His feet ached from all the walking, so he didn’t care where he was sleeping, so long as he didn’t have to move for the next eight hours.  
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do that, as he felt something trying to steal his sword. He shot up from where he had been lying down to grab it away from the thief. “Hey!” he cried, “get away from…” He trailed off as he saw what exactly the thief was. It looked like a green monkey’s head with large red arms and feet. “What the hell?!” he hissed.  
The thing growled at him as he attempted to get his sword away from it. “No! Get your own sword!”he shouted, pulling it away, “Now beat it.” But the creature was not ready to give up. It hissed and slashed at his arm, creating a small gash that leaked blood. Dolcetto hissed in pain before kicking the creature away. “I said, back off!” He snapped.   
The creature tumbled away and Dolcetto smirked, but his smirk faded as he hear angry gibbering coming from the alley walls. He turned around and his eyes grew wide as dozens of the little beasts started coming out of nowhere. The just started materializing, almost fading into existence.   
Dolcetto was completely overwhelmed. He attempted to strike down a few with his sword, but every time he injured one, they repaired themselves like a homunculus. They swarmed around him. Dolcetto cried out as they tackled him to the ground, biting, scratching, pulling his hair. He was so distracted by the attack, he didn’t even notice a man enter the alley way. The man dipped his hand in a jar of oil before speaking.  
“For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal,” the man spoke aloud, causing the creatures to stop and shudder. They all turn towards him. Dolcetto finally noticed the man’s presence. “From six troubles he will deliver you, Even in seven evil will not touch you. In famine He will redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword,” the man said loudly, “You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, And you will not be afraid of violence when it comes.”  
The creatures hissed and suddenly attacked him. When one came near him, he grabbed its face by his oil covered hand. The creature screeched in pain. However, it did not cry out for long, as alchemic light suddenly engulfed the arm and the creature exploded. He moved onto the next and the next, all while he continued to speak. “You will laugh at violence and famine, And you will not be afraid of wild beasts,” he said, Three more fell to him. “You will know also that your descendants will be many, And your offspring as the grass of the earth. You will come to the grave in full vigor, Like the stacking of grain in its season,” he stated, "Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is. Hear it, and know for yourself.” The rest of the creatures suddenly cried out and exploded into black smoke.   
Dolcetto looked around himself wildly, amazed at how he somehow defeated the creatures with words alone. “You…” he breathed before standing up and bowing to the man, “Thank you! How did you do that? I-” he stopped when he saw the man’s face in the darkness. There was a large, X shaped scar on his face. “Wait a minute…” he said, “That scar! You’re the alchemist killer.”  
Scar narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes,” he said, “And you’re not exactly human, are you? You are a chimera, a creature of alchemy.”  
Dolcetto blinked in surprise. “How did you know that?”he asked.  
“Your eyes are too sharp for a human. As dark as it is, you should not be able to make out such details of my face,” he said, “And also, those creatures only swarm like that in the presence of spilled animal blood. I see no dead animal around, so it must have come from you.”   
Dolcetto smirked. “Clever,” he said, “My name’s Dolcetto, and yes, I was fused with a dog. What about you? What’s your name?”  
Scar’s eyes widened slightly. A dog? Like that child he had met several years ago? He narrowed his eyes. This one did not seem to be in as much pain. He did not need to be spare by his hand like the other did. “They call me Scar,” he said as he turned to leave, “Now I suggest you find somewhere safer to sleep.”  
The dog chimera frowned. “Yeah but what’s your real name?” Dolcetto prodded, chasing after him.  
“I have renounced my ‘real’ name,” he said simply, “Now go bother someone else.”  
“I don’t think so,” he said, “You did something for me, so I’ll help repay the favor. Come on, let’s team up. I’ll help you kill a state alchemist.”  
Scar glared at him. “I will not allow you to drag yourself into my business,” Scar said.   
“It’s not dragging me into anything,” he said, “First of all, i’m already a wanted man. There’s someone that I’m after, just like you: the Spitfire Alchemist.”   
Scar stopped and turned towards him. “Is this the truth?” he demanded, “Are you sure it is him you are after?”  
“Do you know any other kid with blue flame alchemy?” Dolcetto responded.  
Scar narrowed his eyes at him. “Give up your hopes of defeating him,” he said, turning away, “You do not have the skills needed.”  
Dolcetto frowned at him. “Excuse me, I’ve been sword fighting all my life. I’m plenty skilled!” he said, “Besides, I have to stop him. He slaughtered all my friends! He brought in the army and had them all killed! We thought he was one of us, or at least understood us, but we were wrong.” While he’d admit he didn’t expect kindness from the kid after having kidnapped him, killing his friends was still unforgivable.   
Scar gave him a pitying look. He knew how he felt. And because of that, he knew that him telling the chimera no wasn’t going to stop him. Maybe he could take him in and teach him how to hunt demons. It would be good have someone to help him fight Shaitan. “If you come with me, there is something you must understand: He’s not one of your kind, I can assure you of that. He isn’t even human,” Scar said, “Those flames, they aren't alchemy.”  
Dolcetto looked confused. “If he isn’t human, then what is he?” he questioned.   
“A monster,” Scar said as he beckoned him to follow him. The chimera did, and had everything explained to him along the way back to Scar’s camp. Once he had, Dolcetto felt lucky to even be alive, or that his friends had simply died by his sword instead of burning alive. He was also horrified by the fact such a creature could exist. But most of all, he felt determined by this too. He had to stop this monster before it was too late.


	26. Much Ado About Nothing

Scar blinked in surprise. When he came back from killing the Silver Alchemist that morning, the last thing he expected to see was a little girl in a pink dress with a tiny black and white creature resembling a bear on her shoulder. "Hello Sir!" She said, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Scar turned to Yoki and Dolcetto, who were sitting by a campfire where a skinned rabbit was roasting on a spit. "What is the meaning of this?" he questioned.

"Hey, don't look at me," Dolcetto said, "I was out hunting this morning. She was here when I got back like a half hour ago thanks to Mr. Stuffy over there." He jabbed a thumb at Mr. Yoki, who gave him a betrayed look.

"Hey! You said it was ok that she stayed here!" Yoki snapped trying to get him to share the blame.

"No," Dolcetto said, "I said I didn't mind if she stayed. I never said it was ok."

"I don't care who brought her here, will someone please explain who she is and what she's doing here?" Scar said, getting annoyed.

"I can explain," she said, "My name is Mei Chang! Your master, Mr. Yoki found me collapsed onto the side of the road and brought me here. And his other servant helped revive me."

"Master?" Scar questioned, raising an eyebrow at Yoki, who looked away uncomfortably.

"For the last time, kid, I'm not his servant," Dolcetto said in annoyance.

Scar sighed and let it go as he walked passed Mei. "If you are well, then there is no reason for you to stay," he said, "Be on your way at once." Mei frowned as she watched him pass her. Then she noticed the wound on his leg. He flinched as he sat down.

Dolcetto sniffed the air and raised an eyebrow at him. "Woah, you alright?" He asked, "Yikes! That looks like it hit muscle…"

The little girl moved over to him. "Allow me to close your wound," she said as she began to draw a chalk circle on the ground. Dolcetto and Yoki looked on curiously as she stuck her throwing knives into the ground and pressed her hand to the ground. All of their eyes widened as blue electricity sparked from the circle and stitched the wound closed.

Dolcetto whistled. "Woah...That's impressive," he said, "I haven't seen any kind of alchemy like that before."

"It's not alchemy, it's alkahestry!" she explained, "It's an art form from the land of Xing."

"Xing?" Scar said, narrowing his eyes, "You mean she's from Xing."

Dolcetto smiled. "You bet she is!" he said, "This little girl is pretty hard core!"

"Yes," Yoki said, "She crossed the desert all on her own! It's insane!"

"I was not on my own!" she insisted before gesturing to the panda on her shoulder, "I had her with me the entire time."

"You mean that little creature on your shoulder," Yoki pointed out. Scar then turned and got a good look at it. His eyes widened and he had to stop himself from gasping. It...it...was adorable! It's fur looked so soft and silky...he just had to touch it! He slowly reached his hand out to pet it.

"Yup! Her name is Xiao Mei!" Mei Chang explained.

"Well I don't really see how that tiny gerbil thing helped you cross the desert, but whatever," Dolcetto said with a shrug. He then blinked in surprise and smirked as he saw Scar reaching to pet the tiny panda. She noticed this and turned. Scar froze, worried she would get the wrong idea, but instead she just started to examine his arm.

"Your arm…"she said, "That's alkahestry, right? The art of reading the dragon's pulse and harnessing the power within the earth...that tatoo matches the flow of alkahestry from my homeland!" Dolcetto and Yoki both looked lost.

"Reading the what now?" The dog chimera questioned.

Scar paused and examined his arm before speaking. "My brother was a student of alkahestry and alchemy and did a great deal of research into both," he said solemnly as he thought of his deceased brother, "This tattoo was the result of that research…"

Mei smiled brightly, oblivious to his emotions. "Really? Your brother must have been amazing!" she said bouncing on her toes. She had expected him to say more but he didn't.

When the pause became awkward, Dolcetto spoke up. "Don't feel bad kid," he said, "he gets moody and silent like this a lot." Scar glared at him before Yoki Cleared his throat.

"Well, Sir," he said, "Now that your wound is healed, we can head on our way to Central." He went to start gathering up their things.

"Oh? That's great!" Mei Chang said, "Let me go get my things!" She started to run off.

"Wait, kid," Yoki said, "Didn't you hear him? He told you to shove off-"

"Let her stay for now," Scar said, "I see no harm in her tagging along for now. She can come with us to Central and then we can split off from there."

Mei smiled brightly. "Oh thank you, Sir!" she said. This was wonderful! She finally had a way of getting to Central so that she could speak to some real, live state alchemists! She could finally find out the secret to immortality and save her clan! Not only would she be able to search that secret, but she would also get to meet the two most amazing alchemists in the whole world: Sir Edward Elric and Major Mustang!

She could feel her heart beginning to melt just thinking about them. Edward Elric with his tall, lithe yet muscular physique and beautiful flowing golden hair. His sparkling, kind eyes and dashing red coat. His gentleness and intelligence. The way he fights for the good of the people. Sigh...He was just so perfect! A true gentleman! Oh how she would love to have him wrap his arms around her in his comforting embrace, speaking to her words of endearment in her native tongue with his gorgeous accent. She could picture them eating dinner together, going on romantic walks, him teaching her how to ride a horse, him fighting for her hand in marriage from her father…

But then Major Mustang was nothing to sneeze at either! He was almost the perfect man! He had come to their nation at the age of only thirteen, already speaking their tongue fluently, to learn their ways of alkahestry. He was a born genius, achieving near mastery in only three years. While she had never met him, she had heard plenty of descriptions of him. His gorgeous blue eyes that shined brightly behind his glasses, the handsome moles that rested upon his cheek, and his strong jaw were the talk of gossip around many women Mei had met that had seen him in Xing.

And since she came to Amestris, she had only heard more wonderful things about Major Mustang! How he also held mastery of the secret art of flame alchemy. Of his courage and determination to face adversity head on and protect others. How he had liberated many a town from tyranny alongside Edward Elric. How he had faced down murderers and marauders alike in defense of those he cared for. How silky his fluffy black hair looked and how athletically muscular and lean his physique was. And also while in Amestris, she had finally found out his first name: Rin. In Xing they only called him honorable Mustang or the foreign alkahestist. But now with a name as lovely as that, she could truly make a picture of him…

(Theater of Mei's mind)

"My dear Mei Chang," the handsome teenage boy say perfectly in her native tongue, "Please, I would love to see your practice of alkehestry. It's been so long since I've had another to discuss the art with."

"Oh," Mei said bashfully leaning up against his chest, "I'm not that great...I’m sure yours is much better...."

"Oh my beautiful rose…" he cooed, raising her face up to meet his own, beautiful radiant blue ones, "You're perfect in your own way, any alkahestry you perform would be stunning to me…" Cherry petals danced in the background as romantic music swelled.

She stared at him in wonder. "R-really?" She gasped.

"Of course," he said kneeling down before her, gently clasping her hand in his own, "I love you with all my heart. I live for you. I'd die for you. I would brave the fires of the deepest hell if it meant we could be together." He pressed a kiss on her hand.

"OH, MAJOR MUSTANG!" she squealed. Blushing as she placed her free hand to her cheek.

Suddenly the door burst open. The pair turned to see Edward Elric standing in the door, a furious, yet still handsome look on his face. "Mei Chang!" he cried, pointing dramatically at them, "I cannot allow this! Step away from him!"

"Edward?" Rin said standing up, "What is the meaning of this? Can you not see that we are in love?"

"I can see that, but I cannot allow this…"he stated, "For I am in love with her as well!" Dramatic music played in the background. Mei gasped at this revelation.

Rin's handsome features grew dark. "Dear Elric," he said, "We have been through so much together. You are like a brother to me. We have share laughs, tears, joys, and sorrows...but this is one thing I could never share!"

"Neither can I," Edward responded, removing his long red coat, "I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I cannot back down."

"Then it is settled," Rin responded, slipping an ignition glove over one of his beautiful hands, "We must fight for her affections! To the death if need be!"

"Noooo!" Mei cried, tears flying from her face dramatically as she called out to them to stop the madness, "Don't fight over me! I have enough room in my heart for both of you!"

Scar, Yoki, and Dolcetto watched her reach out to some invisible figure. "What the hell is she doing?!" Dolcetto whispered, not able to take his eyes off her strange performance.

"You're asking me?" Scar grunted.

"Maybe we should just leave her…" Yoki said.

"Nah," Dolcetto said, "We can't just leave her in the middle of nowhere like this. We should at least keep her around until we can find a safer area to drop her off in."

"Fine…" Yoki responded.

….

These past few evening just seemed to get stranger and stranger. First was the "late night stake out" Roy and the guys performed the previous night with the 13th warehouse, now this. Maes had know there were other living suits of armor. Alphonse and Edward had told him so. But to see one in person was completely different. To know he was someone he had met before was even stranger. Turns out he was the famous mass murder, Barry the Chopper. Riza had found this guy while walking Black Hayate. He had threatened to kill her and so she did what any logical soldier would do: She fired warning shots at him. Twelve of them, in fact. Right at his head.

After that, she didn't even need to incapacitate him for them to get him to a place to interrogate him. He had actually been quite willing to open up. The hardest part was writing everything down. Unfortunately, much of what he told them, they had already heard rumors of from Ed and Al. Still it was good to get confirmation about this.

"I still can't believe the higher ups are involved with these homunculus guys…" Falman said.

"So the government turned you into this? They've been using prisoners as test subjects?" Maes asked.

"Yup," the suit responded, "Well, and animals, but that's beside the point."

"And the two homunculi, Envy and Lust," he said, "Did they do this to you? Are there any more of them?"

"Oh yeah, there are several more," Barry said, "But I haven't met them. Also, no, they had researches perform all the human transmutations."

Roy nodded. "Do you know where we could find these researchers?" He asked.

"Yup!"he said, "In a graveyard! After they were done with them they were used to make more philosopher stones."

They all grimaced in disgust. "Silenced and then used for ingredients, how efficient," Roy grumbled.

"More like terrifying," Maes muttered.

"Well…" Barry said, "Now that I think about it, there was one guy who survived. Someone named Tucker, but he goes my Astaroth now."

Roy and Maes' eyes widened. "Astaroth?" they repeated.

"Yeah, pretty pretentious name, am I right?" He said, "he ran some basement part of lab five while I was there. He'd usually take whatever was left over from experiments and what I was allowed to chop up to perform his own."

Everyone else looked surprised, but Roy and Maes didn't. "He was experimenting on dead bodies?" Riza questioned. 'No, not experimenting…' Maes thought darkly, 'Engineering something...neberiouses.'

"Thank you for your information," Roy said closing his notebook. Maes did the same

They all started cleaning up after that. The guys began to draw straws to see who had to look after the mass murderer. It was then that Barry scooted his chair over to Hawkeye. "So…"he said, "What are you doing later?" She gave him an odd look and Roy looked up from where he had been discussing a plan of action. "You know, I really liked the way you would have killed me back there if I were still flesh and blood," he said, "We could make quite the efficient duo. You with your guns and me with my butcher's-"

Roy suddenly cleared his throat as he walked over to the suit. "Barry," he said glaring at the murderer, "I ask that you stop pestering my subordinate. I'm not sure you're aware of this, but my skills in alchemy extend beyond fire. If you continue to harass her, I will turn you into scrap metal."

"Colonel!" Riza interjected, "While I appreciate your attempt at helping me, I am more than capable of handling him myself."

"While I appreciate the compliment Barry, I will not be teaming up with you on a murder spree any time soon," she said, turning to the suit, "Beyond the moral issues I have with it, I have no interests in homicidal maniacs." With that she walked away and Roy smirked, turning back to his conversation with Maes.

Barry pouted. "Damn it…" he muttered, "Why do the pyromaniacs get all the good ones?"

….

"Woah…." Rin said, "This place is awesome!" He looked around at all the Automail shops. He'd never seen so many bad ass looking weapons and limbs! While he hated having to listen to Winry's speils about the tec, he still loved to look at all of it. There were gold plated arms, legs that doubled as canons, sword arms….Rin felt like was in every manga obsessed little boy's dream!

"Not as awesome when you're the one being gawked at…" Ed said.

Rin frowned. "Geeze why are you so grumpy?" Rin questioned. Ed raised an eyebrow as he lifted his busted automail arm. "Oh….Right," he said, "Well look on the bright side! She promised not to hit you with wrenches anymore."

Ed blinked at that. "Guess you do have a point with that…"he said, "Still, I don't exactly enjoy making her mad."

They finally made their way over to Garfield's shop. The bell jingled as they opened the door. "Hello?" Alphonse called, "Mr. Garfield? Winry? We're back!"

Garfield was the first to enter the room. "OH! Edward! Alphonse!" he cheered, "It's so good to see you! And my, my. You've brought a guest!"

Rin smiled. This guy seemed nice. "Hey, nice to meet you Mr. Garfield," he said, "My name is-"

"No wait, let me guess!" the man said, clasping his hands together, "Let's see...blue eyes, black hair, in the military, and friends with the Elrics...You're one of the mustang boys, aren't you?" Rin nodded with a smile. "Now which one are you…."he pondered, "Yukio is the one with the glasses, right?"

"Yup!" he said, "I'm Rin. Nice guessing there."

"Well Winry has told me a lot about you," he responded, "She's really found of you and your brother, though she does talk about the Elrics more." Rin shrugged. "Speaking of which…"he said beginning to climb the stairs, "Winry! You have visitors!" She peered out of her room with the tec magazine she had been reading. "Yeah? Who?" she said.

"Those idiots you never stop worrying about," he said in a teasing tone as he stood by the doorway.

Winry's eyes lit up. "Really? Ed and Al are visiting?" She asked.

"Yup," he said, "And they brought Rin with them. You know, I know you said you were surrounded by boys all the time, but you never mentioned they were cute ones. Nicely done!" He gave her a teasing wink and a thumbs up. Winry snickered and rolled her eyes.

"Oh stop, they're just friends!" she insisted.

"Even Edward?" he said with a knowing smile.

She looked away in embarrassment. "Well, he might be the one exception," she said, "If he can ever stop being such an idiot…"

"He's a teenage boy, Winry!" Garfield insisted, "They can be like that. But eventually they do grow out of it."

"Hopefully he'll do that soon…" She sighed as she headed downstairs to greet them with a smile.

She spotted the downstairs and they waved to her. "Hey guys! Glad to see you again!" She said.

"You too! It's been a little while, hasn't it?" Rin said.

"So, what's the occasion?" she asked. All of their smiles became stiff at that.

"Oh you know…" Ed said, laughing nervously, "No real reason...just a little...tune up…"He shakily raised his battered automail arm.

Winry froze. Smile still plastered on her face. The wires of the arm were torn out. The casing was completely gone. The knuckles were busted and a piece of the pinkey was missing. Her work, no, her ART was practically in pieces. She remained frozen as she slowly processed this, with only an eye twitch to show she was still alive.

"She hasn't responded…" Rin whispered to Ed, "Is that a good si-"

"RrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Winry shouted at the top of her lungs before slapping him with her magazine.

"EDWARD!" She shouted, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY DO YOU KEEP DESTROYING MY AUTOMAIL?!"

"I thought you weren't going to hit me anymore!" Ed snapped.

"And what happened to your promise to take care of what I worked so hard on for you?"she retorted. "What did you this time, bash it with a hammer? Use it as a hammer? Pick a fight with a grizzly bare with it?" She said, "No wait, that can't be! BECAUSE I MADE IT STRONG ENOUGH TO SURVIVE THOSE THINGS!" "Do you even realize how much work I put into that stuff for you?!"she said, "That isn't some standard model, it's one of a kind! I spend days tailoring that stuff to your needs and you just smash it without a second thought! On top of that, do you have any idea how terrifying it is knowing me putting my best effort into my work isn’t enough to keep you safe?! I’m always worried about you because of stuff like this! Why do you keep doing this, Ed?!" "Well? What do you have to say for yourself this time, huh?" she said, crossing her arms.

Edward looked her in the eye. Then he bowed his head. "I'm sorry," he said, "While I promise I wasn't trying to break it, I wasn't exactly being careful with it either. And I certainly wasn’t trying to be safe either." He recalled his fight with Greed and how he had used it as both a weapon and a shield and just let him rip it apart to buy time. "I should have been more gentle with it," he said, "And I will in the future."

She glared at him before sighing. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the back room. "I’m sorry too for losing my temper....Come on," she said, "Let's see how much damage you did this time."

….

"I don't have the parts to do a full repair, so you're just going to have to settle for a patch job for now," Winry said as she finished up, "However, I can go into town and get some. It should only take me a few hours." She went to grab her bag.

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Ed asked as he examined her work.

"Well first off, not get into trouble," she said, "But unless you want to come with me, you'll just have to figure it out."

Ed pouted and Rin sat back in his chair and thought. "I guess we could go out to eat for lunch," he said, "I haven't seen the town yet, so you guys could show me around."

"Oh no you don't!" Winry suddenly snapped, "You three are not going out wandering around together."

They looked confused. "Why not?" Al asked.

"Because whenever you two go out with HIM," she said as he pointed at Rin, "Ed breaks his automail again! It's like he's bad luck for automail!"

"Come to think of it, she's right…" Al said, "Brother's only ever broken his automail when Rin is involved."

"Exactly. So that's why YOU," she poked Rin in the chest as she spoke, "Need to find something else to do. Something that doesn't involve them!"

Rin frowned. "Oh fine…" he said.

Winry smiled. "Great!" she chirped as she went to leave, "Have fun you guys!" With that, she headed out the door.

….

Rin sighed. He hated being on is own in a weird place. It made him feel...well, alone. But even worse was having nothing to do in that place. He sighed. He was so bored, and yet, he kept walking. Maybe if he did he could find a park or something around here...He doubted that. Especially considering there was nothing but automail shops for miles around! He never thought he'd ever get sick of seeing cool auto mail, but now it was starting to get annoying.

Suddenly the crowds became more dense. Rin had to push past people, and ended up pushing past someone wearing nothing but black aside from a mask. Rin blinked before turning back. The person wasn't there anymore. Had they ever been there? Maybe he was confused and saw something that wasn't there. However, he did see something he did know was really there: a grocery store. Rin smiled as he got an idea. He could cook something really nice for dinner for everyone this evening. That could keep him busy!

He started heading towards the store. Little did he know, he was being watched. The girl in the mask touched her shoulder and shivered. Lan Fan had never felt such power emanating from a person before. It was...overwhelming. She felt like she had to get away as soon as she touched him. How the crowd did not simply part to get away from him was a mystery to her. Maybe...this boy held the secret to what they were looking for. She would have to tell the young lord about this at once.

….

Rin was stirring the sauce slowly, letting it simmer but not burn. He made sure to keep the cream in the sauce to a minimum as he knew Ed would refuse to eat it otherwise. All of a sudden he felt a rumble of earth. He paused. What was that? It didn't feel like an earthquake.

Rin frowned. Maybe he should go to see if something happened in town…

Suddenly the phone rang. Rin moved to pick it up. "Hello? Garfeild's Automail," he said.

"Rin?!" Yukio questioned on the other end.

"Yukio?"he asked, "What's going on?"

"Well, I was originally calling to talk to Winry," he said, "Pinako said she worked here, and since Elicia's been starting physical therapy, maes wanted her to design a prosthetic for her." "What are you doing in Rush Valley?" Yukio asked.

"Welllll…." Rin said as he continued to stir the sauce, "Ed kinda busted his automail again."

"Really? How?" Yukio asked, "Was it while fighting a demon?'

"No…" Rin responded, "He was fighting something, but it wasn't a demon. Let me explain."

….

The three xingese travelers escaped the wreckage they created, leaving the elric brothers to clean it up. "I did not expect those two to be so tough…" Ling said, stroking his chin. It was true. He had severely underestimated their wit and skills. He had planned to just have Lan Fan and Fu capture and corner them to get the secret of the philosopher's stone out of them, but not only had they fought back expertly, but they managed to capture both of his servants. Had the boys not become distracted, they would be the ones cleaning up the mess down town. "There has to be some way to get the secret out of them...there just hast to be…" Ling said, getting frustrated.

He needed to find the secret of immortality. If he didn't, he would never become emperor and the Yao clan would suffer. Plus he truly did care for his people. He wanted to see his nation prosper under his control. But if he didn't appease the current emperor with the secret to immortality that would never happen.

"Young Lord…" Lan Fan spoke up, "If I may, there might be another way for you to find the secret to immortality."

Fu and Ling turned to her in surprise. "Really?" Ling said, eyes opening wide, "How?"

"When I was in the south side of town, I believe I had an encounter with a spirit, like from legends," she said furrowing her brow, "I felt a power stronger than anything I have ever felt before emanating from this boy…"

Ling leaned in. "A Power? What was it like?"he asked, "What kind of power was it? Could anyone else feel it?"

"No...No one else did…" She said, "but it felt completely overwhelming. Like I was an ant caught in a great tempest. It felt almost like a divine presence….but at the same time I felt like my life could have been extinguished in a moment's notice by his mere touch."

"He did not actually hurt you, did he?" Fu questioned, worried for his granddaughter's safety. Ling gave a similar look of concern. He didn't care if this person was a spirit, if he hurt Lan Fan…

"No, I am fine," she said, "But if he is really a spirit, He may have knowledge on the key to immortality."

Ling hopped up. "Then what are we waiting for?" he said, "Let's go find him before we lose him again!"

"Young Lord, wait!" Lan Fan called, stopping him. "We cannot just go running in like this. If he is a spirit, we have no chance of convincing him with brute force. He might even try to kill you by simply disturbing him."

"Lan Fan is right," Fu said rubbing his chin, "If I recall correctly, most spirits require some kind of offering. Maybe if we figure out what manner of creature he is, we can deduce what kind of offering he would like."

Lan Fan looked to her grandfather and nodded. "We'll need to gather some more information on him though…" she said, looking down, "I already know what he looks like, so it's only fitting that I make observations about him." "If you will allow me, my lord," she said looking up, "I can head out immediately to locate him aga-" Both servants gasped in surprise as they noticed the young lord was already gone.

Ling hurried along his path. He knew he had to do this alone. If this was truly a violent spirit, one more powerful than any man, he could not risk the lives of his servants. Once he was sure he had made enough of a distance between them, he began looking around the shops in the area for an offering. He didn't know what the spirit wanted, so it had to be something anyone would like. His eyes fell on a particular shop and he smiled. That might work.

….

"And he really wasn't affiliated with the other homunculi at all?" Yukio said.

"Nope," Rin responded as he turned the stove off for the roast as he finished telling Yukio what happened with Greed. "He said he 'disowned' them," he said, "But that certainly didn't stop Bradley from going ballistic." Rin's brow furrowed darkly as he thought of the man.

"I must admit that Bradley's behavior was more than worrisome," Yukio responded, "Even without this whole mess with homunculi, him performing such a violent shut down of something so small makes him look very unfit to rule. I'll let dad and the others no about this."

Rin nodded. "So…"he continued, "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Yukio blinked as he recalled something from the past few days.

….

Yukio sat in his office. It was extremely late. Normally his father would have scolded him for being at work so late, but he was busy with a stake out of some kind. Men from his team had dragged him out for some kind of investigation about the warehouse facility and an old ghost story. Yukio chuckled at the thought. They both knew the place wasn't haunted, but apparently Roy's men weren't so rational.

Suddenly, the door to his office burst open as Yukio's father and his men came rushing into the room.

"Yukio we need you help," Roy said seriously, "There's been some kind of murder and we need to see if you have any records that could help us identify the person."

Yukio's eyes widened as he stood up. "Seriously?!" he questioned in shock, "What happened?"

"We're not sure," Roy said grimly, " But we found some remains out by the execution grounds. Havock, show him the evidence." Jean nodded before holding up a piece of paper and unwrapping it to reveal a small bone.

Yukio deadpanned as he stared at it in disbelief. He had no idea how to respond to what was clearly a chicken bone. "We believe because we discovered this on military grounds, the victim was most likely military personnel," Roy clarified, "We know this isn't much, but we hope you can at least identify for us how long the victim has been dead."

Yukio stared at it before looking up at them incredulously. "You're kidding, right?" he questioned. There was no way they could be serious. They had to be pulling his leg.

The men frowned at him. "You guys are pranking me...you have to be!" he said. They looked sober so this had to be the case. There was no way they were that stupid.

"Yukio, this is serious!" Falman said, "Someone has died. We really need your help!"

Yukio felt a little part of him die inside at those. Words. "Oh god they really are that stupid…" he muttered too quietly for anyone to hear. He covered his face with his hands. He felt a deep, deep shame as he wanted to weep. Even his father didn't realize the truth.

The men started to get impatient. "So?" Breda said, "Is there anything you can tell us?"

Yukio took in a sharp breath from his nose before letting out a deep, pained sigh into his hands. He then forced a smile and closed his eyes as he removed his hands from his face. "Oh...there's a lot I can tell you," he quipped, "For instance, I can assure you that the victim of the crime is not a military personnel." 'Although the victim of this embarrassing situation is…' he thought.

The men blinked in surprise. "How can you tell that?" Fuery asked.

Yukio's eye twitched. "Because it's too damn small!" he snapped, "Seriously! There isn't a bone in the adult human body that size!" He took a deep breath as he regained his composure.

Looks of realization dawned on their faces. Yukio felt the weight on his soul lighten. Maybe they weren't total idiots.

"Are you saying this is the bone of a child?!" Breda questioned.

Yukio wanted nothing more than to bash his head against the wall for several hours at that moment. Still he kept his composure, despite his complete loss of faith in humanity. "No…"he said behind gritted teeth, "Here…Let me show you where it came from." He turned around and walked over to his desk to grab the newspaper. He flipped to the advertisement section and pulled out a large flyer from a butcher shop advertising a two for one deal on chicken.

The room fell silent as the awkwardness became palpable.

"...Oh…" the men said collectively.

"Yeah," Yukio responded. The men all quietly apologized and shuffled out of the room in embarrassment, leaving Roy alone with his son. The man kept his head down, riddled with shame and embarrassment as awkward tension filled the air.

"So…" Yukio said, leaning against his desk and crossing his arms, "How did you become colonel again?"

Roy groaned and covered his face with his hands. "You are not to tell anyone of what has just transpired," he warned, "Not even Rin."

Yukio raised an eyebrow. "You do realize this is just as embarrassing for me as it is for you, right?" he said, "Like hell I'm telling anyone."

"Good," Roy said with a sigh, "Well, at least one good thing happened today. I proved to those idiots that there is no warehouse thirteen."

Yukio blinked. "But there is a warehouse thirteen," he said. Roy looked at him incredulously. "When we first came here, we exited out of a warehouse with a large number 13 on it," he explained, "Then it disappeared behind us."

Roy blinked at him before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's it…" he said, "I need a drink." With that he stalked off, quietly grumbling at Mephisto.

….

"...Nothing really," Yukio said, "Well actually, we did find one of the suits of armor that had been working at Lab Five. Dad and the others interrogated him last night, but most of the information he had we already had a good idea about. I'll let Dad go over it with you more later."

Rin nodded. "So how is Elicia doing?" he asked. Before Yukio answered, however, there was a knock at the door. Rin raised an eyebrow. "Hold on, there's someone at the door," he said, "I'll have to call you back."

Rin walked over to the door curiously after hanging up. Who could it be? Was it Ed and Al? Did Winry forget her key? He opened the door to find a strange, Asian looking boy with a ponytail holding up a box of chocolates and kneeling before him.

"Oh, Great one!" he announced, "Please accept this humble offering!" Rin blinked in utter confusion. His mouth opened and closed, unable to process this.

Ling felt himself sweating slightly. Lan Fan was right. This power was overwhelming. He felt like his fate was being decided as he knelt there. He hoped his offering was enough. He would have gotten something better, but he had little money, and nearly every other shop in town was for automail! Plus he was too young to purchase alcohol that was one of the few things he knew was a common offering for spirits. He heard somewhere that in some cultures chocolate was called the food of the gods, so maybe spirits liked it to?

To be completely honest, he didn't really know much about spirits. He hadn't really believed in them since he was little but he believe Lan Fan, and now, there was no denying that there was something inhuman about this boy. No human could have chi like this. His hands were starting to shake as he awaited the spirit's judgment.

Rin glanced around awkwardly. "Ummm…" he started, "Are you looking for Winry? Cause she left a while ago."

"What? No!" Ling said, confused by the spirit's words, "I'm here for you!"

"Me?!" Rin repeated in disbelief. Well he supposed it wasn't entirely unbelievable, as he knew he had somewhat of a following, but his Dad had never really let him know everything that was reported about him and who was reading it. "Wait a minute…" he said, "How did you know I was here? Have you been stalking me?!"

Ling flinched slightly as he saw the spirit grow angry. "No, no!" he said, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to disrupt your privacy. I just heard you were in the area."

"Ok…" Rin said. He bit his lip as there was another awkward silence.

"So?" Ling said, "What's your answer? Will you accept my offering?"

"Look...You seem nice," Rin said scratching the back of his head, "But I have no clue who you are, and frankly, I'm not really interested...Why don't you just go back home, ok?"

"No wait!" Ling cried, catching the door, "Please I need your help!"

"Dude, back off!" Rin snapped, trying to force the door closed. However, Ling had slipped halfway through the door, so when he tried to close it, it knocked the wind out of the teen. Ling slipped the floor as he tried to regain his breath. "What the hell, man?!" Rin cried, dragging him up.

Ling began to sweat again as he locked eyes with the spirit. He could see anger in his eyes and could feel his fury in his chi. He didn't know what to do. Should he beg for forgiveness? Should he explain himself? Should he try to run? "I-," Ling started before he smelled something delicious in the air. He could feel his mouth begin to water. Although he had only eaten a little while ago, he was still hungry. His stomach decided to vocalize this thought with a growl.

Rin's eyes widened and he sighed. "Look," he said, "how about this: I take the chocolate, and you can have a meal before you leave. Does that seem fair?"

Ling blinked. It still wasn't what he wanted, but it was better than dying by the wrath of a spirit. Plus he was getting free food, from a supernatural being no less! That was always a plus. And maybe he convince him to help him if he was allowed to stay. "Uh, sure…" Ling said, "Thanks…"


	27. an infinite deal of nothing

Since he had come to Amestris, Ling had never had such a tasty meal! It was truly heavenly, though he guessed he should expect no less from a spirit. He stuffed his face until there wasn't a speck of food left on his plate. "This is incredible!" he cried/sighed, "More please!" He held up his plate.

Rin raised an eyebrow, "Dude, that was your third helping!" He said, "I know what it's like to just love food, but I think you've had enough for now." Rin said, taking the plate away. Ling pouted but said no more.

"By the way, what's your name?" Rin asked, popping one of the chocolates into his mouth.

"Oh, how silly of me," he said, "My name is Ling. I've come here from Xing."

"Oh cool!" Rin said, licking caramel off of his finger, "Why'd you come here? Are you a tourist?"

Ling brightened up. This was his chance. "Well you see-" he started but was cut off.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Both teens turned to see Ed and Al standing in the doorway. He was practically seething. "What the heck is he doing here?!" Ed cried, pointing at Ling. Both teens blinked in surprise.

They pointed at each other before saying, "You know this guy?" simultaneously.

Rin then turned to Ling. "Yeah, they're my friends," Rin said, raising an eyebrow, "how do you know them?"

Ling mentally began to panic. Calming down the angry small amestrian was one thing...but he doubted he would be able to sedate and angry spirit."Well...um…" he started, "Oh would you look at the time! Gotta run!"

He attempted to leap out the window, but Rin grabbed him by his legs and pulled him down. "Now hold up," he said, more serious, "What exactly did you do?"

"Well you see…" Ling started, laughing nervously.

"The asshole mooched food off of us, tried to get us to reveal the secret of the philosopher's stone, and when that didn't work he sent his two goons after us to beat us up! Look what happened to my arm," Ed snapped, holding up his broken automail arm.

Rin turned to him with an angry expression. Ling shrunk, still smiling slightly. "Well, when you put it that way…" he said.

"Oh, and not only did he make us pay for the meal," Ed interjected, "but the idiot also made us fix everything his buddies destroyed, which by the way, was half the town!"

Ling swallowed. That's it. He was doomed. He yelped as the spirit suddenly dragged him up by his shirt and glared at him furiously. It was like a roaring fire had all but consumed him as the boy growled. "Is that so?" Rin said in a low voice.

"Look, I'm really sorry!" Ling pleaded, "I didn't know they were friends with a spirit!"

Rin blinked in surprise. "Wha-" he started, "You think I'm a spirit?"

"Of course!" Ling said as if it were obvious, "Why else would I bring you an offering? I need you help to find the secret of immortality!"

Rin didn't know whether to be relieved that the guy hadn't been trying to flirt with him, flattered that someone thought he was a deity that deserved an offering, or insulted that he was only worth an offering of store-bought chocolates. "Oh…" he said, letting him go, "I thought you were trying to hit on me…"

Ling's eyes opened wide and he blushed. "You WHAT?!" he sputtered, "NO! WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?!"

"Well why would you think I'm a spirit?!" he snapped back. Rin did genuinely want to know this. He was concerned. Had the guy seen him with his tail out around town? Ed and Al had a similar question, but they stayed quiet.

"Are you telling me you're not a spirit?" Ling said in confusion.

"No, I'm not," Rin said. It wasn't a lie. He was a demon, not a spirit, though some considered them one in the same. "My mother was human. I was raised by humans. I am a human," Rin said.

Ling looked absolutely confused. "But your chi!" he said, "It's completely unearthly! No creature on Earth has such power, unless…" He stood up and began examining Rin, lifting his arms and such. "Are you a philosopher's stone?" he questioned. He'd heard rumors that the stone could reside inside a person, but he hadn't thought them to be true.

"Hey!" Rin said, swatting his hand away, "Cut that out! I'm not a stone!"

"But your chi…" Ling said, "There has to be some reason…"

"Um, Excuse me," Al spoke up, "But what is chi?"

"It's life force energy," Rin explained, surprising them. "Yukio explained it to me, it's the energy that every living being emits," he explained, "Alkehestrists can feel it like a sixth sense."

"Wait a minute," Ling said in surprise before breaking out into a smile, "You know Yukio? As in Yukio Mustang?"

All three Amestrians looked surprised. "You know him?" Rin asked.

"Oh yes! I met him while he was Xing!" he said, "Now I ask you again, how is it you three know him? Is it because those two are alchemists?"

"Actually, I'm his brother," Rin said, "I'm Rin Mustang."

Ling's eyes widened. "You're Rin?"he said, "Hmmm...I thought you were twins though…"

"We are," Rin said, "Fraternal twins."

Ling thought about that. Maybe that was why he had such great power. While Yukio never had such a overwhelming chi, he had heard from some that he had an extremely strong connection with the dragon's pulse, allowing him to grasp alkahestry a little quicker. Maybe there was a connection between the two abilities?

"But the real question is how you know Yukio," Ed said, "Or who those thugs you sent after us were."

"They aren't thugs," Ling defended with a frown, "The girl is Lan Fan and the old man's name is Fu. They have loyally served my family for generations."

"You have servants and yet you mooched off of all three of us for food?" Ed said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I am the emperor's son," Ling said, "I'm always to have attendants with me."

All three of them stared at him with wide eyes. "Emperor's son?!" they questioned, "That makes you a prince?" Ling nodded and all three of them burst out laughing at the image that had come to mind.

Ling frowned. "Not the reaction I had in mind," he muttered. All of a sudden, a throwing knife flew through the air and into the wall next to Rin's head. The three boys all yelped in surprise.

Lan Fan and Fu jumped into the room. "I don't care if you are a man or a spirit," she growled, "You will not laugh at the young lord!"

"Jeez...fine lady…" Rin muttered looking at her like she was crazy.

"Sorry we could not get here sooner sir," Fu said, "We only managed to catch up as the boy was releasing you." Despite him addressing Ling, he kept a careful eye on Rin. Boy or not, the force of his chi was not something to take lightly.

"It's alright!" Ling said, "Anyways, back to my story." "To be honest though, my title means next to nothing," Ling explained, "My father has many sons. The emperor takes a daughter from each of the clan chiefs as one of his wives. In all he has over nineteen daughters and twenty four sons."

The three other boys looked on in shock. "Forty three kids?! That's incredible!" Ed said.

"More like greedy and and selfish…" Rin said, "From the sound of it, your emperor treats his family more like possessions, particularly his wives."

"Rin!" Al cried in protest.

"No, no, he's right," Ling said with a sad sigh, "My father is not exactly a good man. He cares more for his wealth than his people or his family. Some of his children have never even seen him for more than a few minutes at a time. I was his twelfth son so I got to at least spend some time with him, but most of us are only chess pieces to ensure the clans stay loyal to him. Each marriage is a contract and each child a form of security in hopes that if the clan stays loyal to him, they may assume power of the throne." "Ed, Al, and Rin gave him slightly more sympathetic looks. Ling's brow furrowed. "Unfortunately, there can only be one to assume the throne, and because of that, we've been having issues," Ling said, "The emperor's health has been declining, and so he's declared that whoever can find the secret of immortality for him will get to assume the throne."

"So that's why you're after the philosopher's stone," Ed concluded, "You want to be emperor."

"I have to be," Ling said, "The Yao clan depends on it. Over five thousand men and women! If another clan takes over, I can only imagine what will happen…" He suddenly started smiling as he grabbed Rin's hands and clasped them in his own. "So you'll tell me how to make one, right?" he pleaded like a child, "Come on...it's for the benefit of five thousand people! Thats a good enough reason, right?"

"Don't tell him, Rin! Who knows if we can trust him," Ed said, causing Lan Fan to glare at him.

"Sorry," Rin said, "But I can't tell you."

Ling pouted. "Why nooooot?" he whined.

"Because if you're smart, then you won't use it, and if not, then I'm not going to give it to you!" Rin snapped, "If you want to know how to make a philosopher's stone, you'll have to go somewhere else because it'll be an eternity and a half before I tell anyone."

Ling suddenly perked up, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He let go of Rin's hands and wrapped one arm around him and the other around Ed. "Then I guess that's just how long I'll have to stick around you two!" he said, pulling them in close.

Rin wrinkled up his nose at the sudden hug. He was about to protest when Ed did it for him.

"Like hell you will!" he said, hitting him on the head with his severed arm.

"Young lord!" Lan Fan shouted, ready to jump into action to intervene. However, she didn't need to, as a voice rang out, causing Ed to stop.

"Guys! I'm home!" Winry called as she entered the house. All three of her friends froze in horror as she entered the room. "Hey guys! How was your-" she stopped as she saw Ed's arm. She stared at it.

Rin capitalized on this moment. "Run!" ßhe whispered to Ling as he climbed out the window. The boy and his servants made it out the window as soon as Winry started screaming.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!" they all winced as they heard this followed by her chasing him around the room.

"Is that girl normally this violent?" Ling questioned.

"Only when his arm is broken," Rin explained.

"I'm starting to wonder if she's an angry spirit…" Lan Fan muttered as they could hear Ed trying to runaway from her.

…

After things calmed down, Winry started work on Ed's arm. Ed grumbled as Ling was still sitting in the living room quietly sipping tea that Mr. Garfeild had prepared for them. Or he had beed. He had taken one sip and set it down. "So this is Amestrian tea…" he said, giving it an odd look, "What is that flavor? And why is it so pale and foggy?"

"Hm?" Mr. Garfeild said looking up, "Oh, I'm sorry! Force of habit, I guess. Winry and I both drink tea with milk so I always put it in automatically."

Ling looked shocked. "Milk in tea?" he questioned, "That's so weird! No one I know puts milk in their tea. Why would people do that?"

Rin shrugged. "I don't know. People do it with coffee here too. I like milk in my coffee but not tea," Rin said, "Sugar's always good with tea, but milk only works with bubble tea, if you ask me."

Ling raised an eyebrow. "What's that?" he said, "Do you make it out of some kind of plant that grows in streams?"

"Nah, it's just normal tea," Rin said, "But you cook tapioca pellets until they're soft and stir them in with milk."

Ling gave him a disturbed look. "Why do you Amestrian enjoy messing with tea so much?" he questioned.

Rin frowned. "You think we're weird? You're the ones who decided to make a drink out of fermented tea leaves!" he retorted, "I'm no genius, but even I know fermented means rotten."

Ling shrugged. "Eh, Fair point," he said as Garfeild handed him a new cup without milk.

"So…" Al said, finally feeling like he could join in the conversation, "How did you meet Rin's brother?"

Ling smiled and set down his cup. "Oh now that's a good story!" he said, "But I'm surprised he hadn't told you it himself! I suppose it doesn't matter, though." "Well, it all started several months ago…"he said.

….

"When I first started my search for immortality, I traveled all over Xing to the most reputable schools of alkahestry. There I spoke to the best scholars in the land, trying to get a lead on how to achieve immortality. While I had no luck finding the answers in alkehestry, I did find your brother."

...

Yukio walked along back to his dorm that evening. He had a long day of classes. He sighed as he carried his books back and calculated how much time he had to do what. If he. Mapped out his evening properly, he could eat while he studied and have an hour to do laundry and then go to bed on time. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he tripped over something lying in the road. His books went flying everywhere. He cursed as he crawled back up. What the hell had he tripped over? Yukio stood up after he picked up his books and turned around. He nearly dropped them again when he saw what he had tripped over.

It was a young man lying passed out in the middle of the road. He heard a faint stomach growl come from him. "Please…"he begged pitifully, "Feed me…." Yukio sighed. Looks like he'd be throwing his plan completely out the window…

….

"He was so kind when I met him. He let me into his home, and even offered me food."

...

Yukio finished draining the tub for his laundry before heading back into the kitchenet. "Alright," he said as he wiped his hands dry, "I know you were hungry, but I hope you left some for-"

He looked up to see the stranger making himself another pot of ramen. Yukio blinked before frowning. He ate it all. Of course. Figures he'd find as big of a pig as Rin on the side of the road. He supposed he couldn't blame him too much as he had been starving/ Yukio walked over to him to grab the pot out of his hand. "I didn't say you could make more," he stated.

The stranger looked at him in confusion. "You didn't?" he repeated, "then what was that box of it for?"

Yukio blinked in confusion before his eyes widened in realization. He quickly turned around to find his twenty pack of ramen was completely empty. "You ate ALL OF IT?!" Yukio shouted, "THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO LAST ME THE WEEK!"

"Oh don't worry!" Ling said, "I'll pay you back for it...eventually…."

Yukio suddenly turned to him with fury in his eyes as he grabbed his arm. "Oh, you'll pay for it…" he said in a low voice as an evil aura surrounded him. Ling laughed nervously before slipping out of his hands and out the door.

"HEY!" Yukio shouted, running after him, "GET BACK HERE!"

...

"Although I did not realize it at first, after our brief encounter, I found out that teen I had met was the famous student from Amestris, Yukio Mustang. I believed he might be helpful in my cause."

…

Yukio was walking to his first class the next day when all of a sudden, someone jumped out of the alley he was about to walk past. "Hello!" he said, "We meet again! Isn't this an interesting coincidence?"

Yukio stumbled back in surprise. "What the hell?!" he said, "Get out of here! I'm not going to let you mooch anything else off of me, you leech!"

"Oh come on, that was yesterday! This is today! The past is all behind us," he said waving him off, "Here, let me introduce myself. I am Ling Yao, twelfth son of the Emperor of Xing, and future head of the Yao Clan."

Yukio stared at him hard. "Yeah, and I'm the fuhrer of Amestris," he said sarcastically before walking past him.

Ling frowned before turning and running after him to catch up with him. "Very funny!" he said, "But I know who you really are. You're that prodigy from Amestris! The alchemist!"

"Congratulations," Yukio said, still glaring at him, "You're not only a thief and a liar, but now a stalker." Yukio began walking faster.

Ling became even more frustrated. "Wait!" he said, running up in front of him and blocking his path, "I really am being honest, I am a prince of Xing." "Look!" he said, pulling the seal of the Yao family out of his pocket, "See? Only the heir to the throne representing the Yao clan would have this. Now do you believe me?"

Yukio raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Alright," he said, "You have five minutes to explain what you want."

Ling smiled. "Alright," he said, "As you know there is currently a power struggle amongst the Clans. The Emperor has fallen ill and has declared that anyone who can discover the secret of immortality can claim the throne." "I haven't had any luck so far in finding it with research into alkahestry," he said, "But that's where you come in! You can help me find the secret to immortality through your knowledge in alchemy! So, will you help me?" Ling was practically radiating enthusiasm as Yukio gave him a deadpan look.

"No," he simply said as he walked around him, "Now if you excuse me, I have to get to class."

Ling practically stumbled over in surprise by this statement. Had he really just said no to him? No one had ever said no to him! Well, aside from his mother and a few of his nurses. Ling turned and frowned in frustration. He couldn't accept this. He knew he wasn't telling him something. He just had to find out what. "Hey! Wait up!" he said, "My five minutes aren't up yet!"

….

"Despite his previous kindness, he had been less than willing to divulge any useful information to me, so I had to work hard to earn his favor and learn his secrets."

….

Yukio scowled as he tried to out pace him as they walked down the street. "Come on, 5000 Yao Clans men depend on this!" Ling pleaded as he followed behind him.

"Not my problem," Yukio said as he took a sharp turn, opened the door to his dorm and shut it behind him in Yao's face.

….

"He was stubborn, but I was persistent!"

…

Yukio was reading in the park on the beautiful spring afternoon. He sat on a park bench next to a tree. Suddenly, there was a rustling and Ling popped out of the tree, hanging upside down. "This is a matter of national proportions!" he argued, "Don't you care who will be running the country in the coming decade?"

"Considering I won't be living here in the coming decade, no," he stated simply before getting up and walking away.

…

Yukio was sitting down, doing his homework in the library. Ling suddenly pulled up a chair and sat across from him. "I have bodyguards!" he said with a smirk, "And if you won't give me the information willingly, they'll force it out of you!"

"Is that so?" Yukio said not looking up. He then reached to his side, pulled his gun out of its holster, held it up to Ling's head, and turned off the safety. Ling's eyes widened but Yukio's eyes never moved from his homework. "Can your body guards move faster than a bullet from a military grade gun?" he asked innocently. Ling gulped before slowly shrinking away.

...

Yukio stepped out of the lecture hall and began walking down the crowded street. Ling pushed passed people to catch up to him. "I can make you head of your own school for alkahestry!" he argued.

"Not interested," he said, slipping into the crowd.

…

Yukio was eating lunch at a restaurant. The waitress placed a bowl of noodles in front of him. He broke his chopsticks and got ready to dig in, when Ling popped up from the booth behind him and leaned over the edge onto his side.

"How about a lordship, eh?" he said, "Lord Mustang has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

Yukio set down his chopsticks and started to head to the front to pay for his ticket without eating. "Still don't care!" he called.

Ling frowned before picking up the noodles to eat for himself.

…

It was almost ten o'clock. Yukio was folding clothing. He had finished folding a dress shirt and hanging it when a voice suddenly called from the window. "Ok!" Ling said, "Final offer! I will make you my personal advisor if I become emperor!"

Yukio's eye twitched. "GO. AWAY," he shouted, throwing a bar of soap at him. Ling dodged and Yukio stomped over to the window and slammed it closed.

…

"But eventually, I convinced him and he told me all about the philosopher's stone."

…

There was a knock at the door. Yukio trudged over to it, dreading who was possibly behind it. "If this is him, I swear to god…" he muttered. The door opened and sure enough, Ling was standing there, but this time he had a very serious look on his face.

Yukio rubbed his eyes and groaned. "What?" he demanded, "What do you want? What are you going to try to offer me this time? Another title? An ambassadorship? Your sister's hand in marriage?! WHAT?"

"...If you help me," he said, "When I become emperor, I will pay off all of your student loans."

Yukio stared at him before finally relenting and opening the door. "Fine," he said, "Just get in!" Whether or not Ling actually paid off his student loans didn't matter to him. He just wanted the guy off his back at this point.

"I knew you'd agree to that!" he chirped.

Yukio sat him down and explained to him the legend of the philosopher's stone. Ling listened intently. "So where in Amestris can I find out how to make this?" Ling questioned.

"You can't," Yukio responded, "First of all, you'd need to be a state alchemist to get the means to start researching it."

"Then I'll just get a state alchemist to help me," ling said with a shrug.

"AND SECONDLY," Yukio said glaring, "It would still be impossible because no one has ever succeeded in finding one. The search for it has only ever lead to disappointment and disaster. Even my brother and his friends, who have spent the last three years searching for it, haven't found a lead since they've started." Yukio sighed and ran a hand down his face as he thought of Rin. He could only imagine what trouble he had gotten into so far only to turn up empty handed.

"You have a brother?" Ling questioned curiously.

"Yes," Yukio said, "Back in Amestris I have a twin brother. His name is Rin."

"What's he like?" Ling asked, "Is he an alchemist like you?"

"Yes he is," Yukio said, "He joined the state about three years ago. He went through a lot of trouble to do it, including going against dad's wishes."

"He went against your father's wishes?" Ling said in slight surprise.

"Yup," he said chuckling, "Dad was pissed when he found out he had taken the exam behind his back. And that's not even the biggest amount of trouble he's gotten into!" Yukio chuckled before sighing. "Which means I always have something to worry about with him…"he muttered. He didn't know why he was telling Ling this, but it felt good to get it off of his chest.

Ling gave him a sympathetic look before smiling. "Maybe I can go to Amestris and look out for him for you," he said, "After all, we're both trying to find the stone. Might as well keep together on it!"

Yukio frowned. "I thought I told you to give up," he said, "It's impossible to find the stone."

"I think I'll go ahead and find that out for myself," Ling said as he headed for the window, "Thanks!" With that, He lept out of it. Yukio stared at the window, contemplating what had just happened. One thought persisted in his mind: he'd definitely end up paying for his own student loans.

….

"And that's how I met your brother!" Ling said.

"Huh…" Rin said, "I'm surprised he didn't get sick of you pestering him instead of helping you."

Ling laughed nervously. "Yes well…"he said, "I wouldn't say we always got along…"

"Hey guys!" Edward called, "Winry's almost done. I wanna talk to you for a second about Central."

"Central?" Ling perked up, "We're going to Central? How exciting!"

"NOT YOU!" Ed shouted.

Rin and Al got up and headed into the room. "What is it brother?" Al said.

"Winry's coming with us," Ed said, jabbing a thumb at her, "I mentioned to her we'd be heading back and she demanded to come."

Rin smiled as he remembered Yukio's call earlier that day. "Oh, that's good,"he thought aloud, "Yukio will certainly be glad."

The other's blinked curiously. "Oh? Why's that?" Ed asked, brow furrowing.

Rin's eyes widened as he realized he had said that aloud. He wondered if he should tell them about Elicia now or later. After a moment's pause he decided now wasn't the best time. "Well you see," Rin said, "Yukio's got a patient that wants your services in helping them get a prosthetic."

Winry's eyes lit up. "Really? Someone in Central wants my help?" she squealed, "This is amazing! I didn't think I'd get recognized outside of Rush Valley!"

Rin felt bad about getting her excited. "Now calm down," Rin said, "The person didn't want automail yet, they just want a custom prosthetic."

Winry nodded, unperturbed by this. "That's fine!" she said, "Wow! I can't believe I'm getting my first job outside of Rush Valley! I'll go get my things!" She ran off giggling with Rin felt extremely guilty as he watched her go. She wasn't going to be nearly as happy when she saw who her patient was...

…

Ling was now sitting outside the building, finishing up his tea. Suddenly, Fu came up behind him. "Young lord," he said, "Why do you bend to these people. If the boy really isn't a spirit, then you don't need to waste your time with them, even if one is related to that young man named Yukio."

"I disagree," he said, "I knew for a fact this journey wasn't going to be easy. I'm going to have to make sacrifices, and if that means a little bowing to others, then I see nothing wrong with that." 'Besides…'he thought to himself, 'I still don't think that boy is entirely human. I don't know what he is, but it certainly isn't normal. No one has that kind of power by accident, so I'm going to find out how and why!"


	28. Mouth full of news

The two figures stood across from each other in the white void. If they both had eyes, they'd be staring each other down. "Oh come on, Truth," Mephisto said, "Can't you make an exception? I promise this is the only time I'll ask for this."

"I said no Samael!" Truth growled, "You get two guests with you at a time, no more! I'm already making an exception by letting those two live in my dimension, and look what trouble they've caused!"

"Oh, trouble would have caused itself anyways!" the demon said, waving his hand, "Besides, this isn't the first time you've made this exception for me. Remember when I first came here to fix up the walls of your world? You let me bring a lot more than two exorcists with me."

"This is different Samael!" Truth snarled back.

Mephisto raised an eyebrow. "Is it though?" he questioned, "Because I'm getting a pretty good case of deja vu here."

Truth frowned and clenched his fists before releasing them. He was right. Things were starting to look quite bleak. It had gotten so bad that demon kings were able to enter his world again! It was only a matter of time before he attempted to return… "State your request," Truth said, "If it is reasonable, I might allow it."

Mephisto smiled. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement," he said.

….

Rin stuck his head out the window of the moving train, loving the feeling of the wind in his hair. The air was crisp and slightly cool, complementing the warmth of the sun on his face. He took a deep breath in to smell the morning air. Man he loved train rides. Well, at least these kinds of train rides. One of the things he didn't miss about his old home was the trains. The subways were always packed to the brim, plus the buildings themselves stank of either BO/cologne of the ten thousand businessmen and women who used it every day or disinfectant. The bullet trains were less crowded and didn't smell but they always were too fast to enjoy. You couldn't enjoy watching the scene roll by and you'd probably break your neck if you stuck your head out the window. "Careful," Ed teased, "If you stick your head out the window too much, you'll fall out."

Rin raise an eyebrow before getting back in his seat. "Nah, that's only you, Ed," he teased, "After all, that egghead brain of yours counts for half your body weight!"

Ed growled and tried to grab him. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THEY'D BLOW AWAY IN THE WIND?!" he shouted, causing Rin to laugh.

"Brother!" Al cried, grabbing his brother and putting him back in his seat, "Stop it! We don't want to upset the other passengers."

"I think it's too late for that," Winry said with a sigh as she glanced to the other people in the train who were staring at them and whispering. She then sent a glare at Rin. "Did you really have to provoke him like that?" she said, "You knew this would happen!"

Rin shrunk a little in his seat. "Sorry…" he said, "I just don't see what the big deal is about me wanting to stick my head out the window. It's still less dangerous than what those Xingese guys are doing." It was true. Rin was at least still in the train cart. Meanwhile, they were riding on top of the train.

Fu's eyes narrowed as they could see the city in the distance. "Young lord, do you feel that?" he questioned. There was an unnerving chi wafting through the air as they got closer. Ling nodded it was similar to Rins, and seemed stronger, yet also not as powerful. It permeated father but seemed stretched thin.

"What an interesting city," he muttered, "There's definitely something wrong with that place. Whether we can find the source of immortality or not, this place is definitely not as innocent as it appears." He then walked across the car and climbed down to the door, "I'm going to spend some time with the locals. See if I can find any interesting places to visit first."

...

When they arrived at the station, they stretched and hopped off. Rin smiled as he stepped off. "Ah, nothing like being back in the city!" he said.

"Yeah, smell that fresh smog," Ed joked. Winry and Al laughed and Rin smiled at him. There laugher was cut short by Fu and Lan Fan running up to him.

"Excuse me," he said, "Have you seen the young lord?" The two looked worried.

The four blinked. "No…" Al said, "We thought he was with you."

"Where could he have gone…" he muttered as he looked around. "Young Lord?" He called, running away, "Young Lord!"

"Should we help them?" Al questioned.

"Nah," Ed said, "We have to head into Central Command to see the lieutenant colonel."

"Yeah, and I want to see the rest of the Hughes family again as soon as possible!" Winry added, about to go hail a cab.

"Wait!" Rin called, stopping her, "Yukio wants you to check in with him first." "Please can you go to him before you see the Hughes?" Rin pleaded.

"Ok…." Winry said carefully, "I'll go head to him first then...see ya I guess."

…

As soon as they heard Rin and the Elrics were back, Roy and Riza began searching Central command for them. Well specifically for Rin. Roy needed to see how he was doing, if he had really changed all that much, and to have a very stern conversation with him about his recklessness.

They had been looking for almost an hour and Riza was getting sick of being in the dark. "Sir," Riza asked, "I'm sorry, but why is it so important that we find Rin so soon? You're not doing this just to avoid work, are you?" If this was an elaborate scheme to avoid paperwork, he was going to regret making her waste her time. Although she wanted to see Rin too after all he'd been through, at this point she'd prefer him come to them.

"I promise it's not that, Hawkeye," he said, "I just need to speak to him about private matters."

She sighed as she saw his furrowed brow. "I understand you have certain duties as his father to scold him, sir," she said, "But maybe it would be best if we get back to work for now and have you talk to him late-" She stopped as she turned the corner and saw the three boys walking down the hall.

Roy's eyes widened and his breath hitched as he saw the changes to his son. The most obvious difference was the tail swinging behind him, but there were other things too. Pointy ears peaked out from his shaggy hair. His eyes were a more electric shade of blue and his pupils seemed more ovular. Fangs flashed in his mouth as he spoke, and slightly pointed nails protruded from his fingertips instead of the usual rounded ones. It gave Roy a slightly numb and cold feeling as he came to terms with this image. Rin was a demon. He looked like a demon. But he was also his son. He still looked like the boy he had raised, even if even if he now possessed a few slightly uncanny features.

Riza glanced at him as she noticed Roy's reaction. Her brow twitched in confusion as she didn't understand his expression. Was something wrong? Shouldn't he be happy to see his son was ok, especially considering all that had happened?

Roy relaxed before frowning and clearing his throat. All three boys turned to him in surprise. However, Rin's face also looked slightly fearful. "Oh! Dad!" he said, voice high, "What are you doing here?"

Roy narrowed his eyes at him. "You know very well why I'm here, Rin," he said.

"We don't!" Ed said with a frown, "What are you doing here in Central? You're not going to shove another mission on us are you?"

"No," Roy said, "I and my men were transferred here several weeks ago." "But don't worry, I'll be leaving you alone for now," he said, narrowing his sight on Rin, "But I need to have a word with my son…"

Rin gulped and laughed nervously. "Who me?" he said pointing at himself. Roy glared at him before grabbing him by the arm and tugging him away. He was in no mood for witty banter. This fact terrified Rin. The colonel's two subordinates and Al watched him drag his son away as Rin shot them pleading looks. Ed and Al felt slightly sorry for him as they hadn't seen Rin's father so upset with him in a while, while Riza simply looked on curiously, still not entirely sure what had happened to cause such anger.

"So…"she said, turning to the Elric brothers, "What are you doing back in Central headquarters? Yukio told us you were off searching for an alternative to the philosopher's stone."

"We were," Al started.

"But we found some information regarding those oroboros freaks that we need to get to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," Ed explained, "Do you know where he is? He wasn't in his office."

"You just missed him, I'm afraid," Riza said, "He decided to take his lunch break early to visit his daughter in the hospital."

Ed and Al looked surprised. "Wait, what?!" they cried.

"We knew Hughes family was attacked but why is Elicia still in the hospital? Rin said she was fine!" Ed said, concern and confusion written on his face.

Riza blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry…" she said, "I was under the assumption you knew. Did miss Rockbell not come with you?"

"No she's here but what does that have to do with-" Ed started angrily before suddenly shutting his mouth as horror dawned on him. "Elicia…" He breathed, "She's not...she can't be…"

Al was completely quiet with shock and Riza felt pity for the boys. "I'm sorry, but it's true…" she said, "While Gracia was only mildly injured in the chimera attack, Elicia lost her left leg up to her knee…"

Ed swallowed. His hands began trembling with guilt. He did this. He hurt another innocent person. Elicia wasn't even involved in this, why did it have to be her? If they had never gone into that damn lab…

Al was having similar thoughts, but his were more directed on how Elica must be feeling. He knew how his brother felt after losing his limbs. He was so depressed and distraught. Almost lifeless even. It broke Al's figurative heart to think that she might be in the same state.

"Boys?" Riza asked, getting worried, "Boys are you alright?"

"...We're fine," Ed said, obviously not, "Thanks for the information. We need to get going." His hair was covering his face as they turned away.

Riza could tell they were upset. "Edward, Alphonse," she started, reaching out to them. However, they suddenly turned and started walking away. Her brow knit together slightly. "Boys come back here!" she said as she began walking after them. They began running at that. Riza growled and swore under her breath. She wouldn't be able to catch up to them at this rate. "It's not your fault!" she called after them. Riza sighed as she watched them run down the hall and disappear. She felt a little guilty, but she supposed they'd have to find out sooner or later….

But it should have been Rin or Yukio telling them, not her. They knew how to talk to those boys better than any of them. If anyone could make them feel better, it was them. Riza turned around and started heading in the direction of Rin and Roy. Maybe if they were done with their...discussion...she could convince Roy to put off punishing Rin if he would cheer up the Elrics.

…

Roy pulled Rin aside into an empty office room and folded his arms after shutting and locking the doors. "You have a lot of explaining to do," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah…" Rin said, scratching the back of his head, "Well...I'm a demon now...surprise?"

"Not that!" Roy said rolling his eye, "But I will talk to you about that later. I'm talking about your reckless and downright stupid actions! What were you thinking going into an abandoned laboratory without aid from other officers, especially when you knew it wasn't exactly abandoned from the start? You could had died or been kidnapped! Oh wait, the latter already happened!"

Rin frowned. "Well everything turned out ok in the end!" he insisted.

"Ah yes, because you losing part of your humanity is perfectly ok!" he said rolling his eyes, "Rin, we have no idea how this will affect you! Yukio has already told me you received a warning from Mephisto and now have the equivalent of an allergy to salty foods. What if you start spewing fire whenever you get too upset? What if you can no longer use traditional means to protect yourself from demons like holy water, spell tags, or circles? There's now a demon KING after your hide for whatever reason. How are you going to be able to protect yourself?"

"I've got my sword…" Rin muttered looking away.

"And that's another thing!" Roy continued, not missing a beat, "You carrying that thing around is extremely unsafe. What if someone stole it? From what your brother told me, someone already has tried and succeeded to!"

Rin growled, mentally cursing at his brother. What did he tell him absolutely everything? "And, What? it's safer with you?!" he snapped, "At least I managed to get it back! You couldn't even find the people who stole it from you!"

"That's not the point, Rin," Roy said, "The more you carry that thing around, the more likely the people around you are to figuring out the truth!"

Rin froze at that. Roy's eyes widened as he read Rin's body language. Roy growled. "How many people know," he said.

"Not many!" Rin said, holding up his hands in defense, "Just the Hughes, Ed, and Al." Then Rin crumpled slightly. "...And Izumi, and that gang from Dublith, and these freaky people from Xing that have this creepy sixth sense…"he continued with less confidence.

Roy's eye twitched. "YOU TOLD COMPLETE STRANGERS?!" he shouted.

"No!" Rin said, as if offended, "Of course not! They figured it out on their own. The gang opened the sword and those people from Xing had that freaky sixth sense thing that Yukio does now! And even then, none of them knew or figured out the truth of the situation."

Roy relaxed slightly and sighed in relief. "But please let me keep the sword on me," Rin pleaded, "It's already saved my life and my friends lives several times, and I can't think of any other way to keep it safe. After all, your case idea didn't work and it's not like Kuro can protect it."

Roy sighed and rubbed his hands down his face, bring them to his chin as he bore an exhausted expression. "Fine," he said, "But don't open it unless absolutely necessary. That's an order, got it?"

Rin nodded in understanding and gave him a mock salute. "Yes, Dad!" he said sarcastically.

Roy raised an eyebrow before smirking. "That's colonel to you, mister!" He responded.

Riza didn't know what to say by the end of the exchange. At first she hadn't meant to listen in, she had just gone to knock on the door to see if she could steal Rin away fro a moment. She had not expected to hear what she had, but after Roy had said, "The more you carry that thing around, the more likely the people around you are to figuring out the truth!" She because curious and suspicious, and couldn't help but listen in. What were they talking about? What secret were those two hiding? And what did the sword have to do with it? What would happen if Rin opened it? And why didn't she know about this? She felt a deep sense of hurt. She knew there were things the colonel kept from everyone, even Hughes and herself, but if he knew about it, why couldn't she? And besides, this seemed like something extremely important. If Roy needed this sword protected, why didn't he go to her for help or let her know? And what exactly was so important about the sword that it needed to protected from the homunculi and why shouldn't it be open?

Riza frowned. She didn't like this. How was she supposed to watch his back if he couldn't trust her? How was she supposed to watch his back when she couldn't trust him? She had to resolve this soon, but first…

"Colonel? Rin?" she called as she knocked on the door. The door was unlocked and she entered the room. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but I need Rin to help with something," she said, "the Elric brother's just found out about Elicia's…situation...and they need someone to speak to them about it."

Rin looked down guiltily as Roy gave a look of surprise. "You didn't tell them?" Roy said in disbelief.

"I didn't want them to blame themselves…" he weakly argued.

Roy huffed in annoyance but left him alone on the subject. To be fair, he would have tried to do the same. "Very well, Hawkeye," he said, "Send him on his way."

Riza nodded and pointed him in the direction of where the boys ran. The two officers then stood alone in the room. There was a momentary silence between them that, to Riza, seemed very tense.

Roy then turned to her and smiled. "Well, now that that's taken care of," he said, "I suppose it's back to work."

Riza nodded. "You certainly have a lot to get back to," she said, "I advise you not take your usual extensively long lunch break if you wish to finish it on time."

Roy shrugged. "Fair enough," he said before walking away. Riza watched him do so. For the first time in a long time, she hesitated before following after him.

...

"I promise! I'm not an illegal immigrant!" Ling cried, gripping the prison bars, "I'm just visiting royalty! Honest!" Once he had entered Central, he had been overwhelmed by the immense amount of power radiating from the city that he just had to go out and explore. He had to see where it all was coming from. After about an hour of doing so, his body realized he hadn't eaten for the entire train ride and he promptly passed out in the street. He expected to be able to play his usual shtick of being a starving beggar and get free food from that...but when the police found him like that, the situation ended with prison cell instead of a hot meal.

"Yeah, yeah," the police officer said, "tell it to the judge."

"No, really! I have proof!" he said, holding up his Yao clan seal, "See? I'm a member of the Yao clan in Xing!"

The police officer raised an eyebrow. "How do I know that's even real?" he questioned.

Ling faltered. He was right, he had no way to prove the seal was real as there was no one in Amestris that he knew of that could examine it. Then an idea came to mind. "Wait!" he said, "I know the Mustangs! Yukio and Rin, they can vouch for me!"

The police officer's eyes widened. "You're friends with them?" he questioned. Ling nodded enthusiastically. The police officer stroked his mustache. "Alright," he said, "I'll call one of them up and see if they vouch for you." Ling stretched his hands up into the air in victory as he walked away.

….

"Hey Yukio!" Winry chirped as she walked down the hall of the hospital, all her luggage in toe.

The young man blinked as he turned towards her and smiled. "Oh Winry!" He said, "Good to see you! You're looking well."

"Thanks Yukio!"she said, "I've actually been under a lot of stress lately, orders keep flying in. It's hard to keep up." "But I'm happy to be here. I wouldn't miss this one for the world!" she said.

Yukio raised an eyebrow. She was happy? He felt confused. Though maybe she just felt honored in that she was the one helping Elicia. "Let's step in my office and we can discuss what she wants," he said, leading her into the room.

"Alright!" Winry said, opening up one of her bags, "I already have a few models ready, actually."

Yukio smiled as she pulled out the skin-toned plastic. "That's wonderful!" he said, "Your really do come prepa-" He stopped in his words as he stared at the models in confusion. "Winry...this isn't right," he said, "All of these are much too big!" It was true. They were all adult models.

"Oh don't worry," she said, "They're adjustable! One size fits all!"

"No, no, no!" he said, "It doesn't matter how much you adjust them, they'd be too heavy for her to use!" He then moved over to her luggage bag, "Surely you have some smaller ones in here…" he said, unzipping it.

"No, wait!" She said, "Don't touch-"

But it was too late. He opened up the luggage bag and her underwear fell out. There was a moment of silence as Yukio blushed furiously before he leapt back. "What the heck?!" he cried, "Why did you bring your luggage here?!"

Winry frowned. "Well sorry," she said with a huff, "Your brother sent me here before I could go drop it off at the Hughes house!" Yukio looked confused. Why would he do that. "I don't get what his deal was," she said, "He made this sound super urgent. He wouldn't even let me stop by to see Elicia and see how she was doing at home!"

Yukio's eyes widened in alarm at that. "Wait what?" he said, "What are you talking about? Elicia hasn't been at home for over a week!"

Winry looked at him in confusion and alarm. "Huh?" she asked innocently, "What are you saying? Is she alright?"

Yukio deadpanned as realization dawned on him. Rin hadn't told her. His fists shook. That bastard! He didn't want to make Winry upset so he left it to him! He was going to wring his brother's neck when he saw him.

"Yukio?" she demanded, standing up, "What's going on? What happened to Elicia?" Her voice was already wavering slightly.

Yukio sighed. "Winry…" he said, "Elicia is the one you're designing the prosthetic for." Yukio winced as Winry's eyes widened and she cupped her mouth. She slowly shook her head no. "I'm sorry," he said, "But it's true. She lost her left leg a few weeks ago."

Winry sat down in a chair, shoulder's shaking as tears started falling from her face. Yukio placed a hand on her shoulder. "How," she demanded, finally speaking, "How did this happen?!"

"You remember lab five, correct?" Yukio said, "Well after Rin and Ed got out, Maes started doing some digging. The people behind it found out and first tried to silence him, but failed." "So they sent a chimera after his family," Yukio lied, "Rin stopped it, but it had bitten her leg off already." Winry gasped at this. "Don't worry!" Yukio assured, "She had been knocked out when it had happened, and she's been doing great since!"

"But she had to go through all that!" Winry sobbed, "She's only three! She's only just gotten the hang of walking. She shouldn't be getting measured for a prosthetic!"

Yukio sighed and sat down beside her. "I know…" he said, "It's not fair, and I'm not happy about it either." "But she's not letting it keep her down and neither should we," he said, "You know she's really excited to see you."

Winry looked up at him, tears stopping. "She was really happy when we told her you might make her new leg. She really wants to spend time with you," he said, "She sees this as no different an occasion as when you came to her birthday. So do you think you could see it as the same for her?"

Winry blinked before half smiling. "You're right," she said, voice still cracking a bit, "I need to be able to smile...for her sake. If she can, so should I. After all, I'm the one making it so she can get back on her feet…"

Yukio smiled. "Exactly," he said. Inwardly, he felt very relieved. He was still mad at Rin for making him the one to tell her what happened, but he was proud of how he had handled that. Now to call up Rin and give him a piece of his mind…

BRRRRRRRRRRing! BRRRRRRRRRRRRing!

Speaking of calling, the phone suddenly started ringing. Yukio gave a confused look before walking over to it and picking it up. "Hello?" He asked in confusion. His brow furrowed as he found it was the police chief. "What can I do for you, Sir?" he asked. He became even more confused as the man said there was a possible foreign friend of his at the station. "Foreign friend?" ßhe repeated, "I don't have a-" He stopped as he realized who the man as talking about and his eyes widened in horror. No. Oh God no. Not this idiot! He hoped he would never have to see that guy again, and now he was calling to bail him out! Yukio sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine…" he said, "I'll be right over…."


	29. For that relief

Yukio couldn't believe he was doing this. He sighed as he entered the prison and was brought down the hall to Ling's cell. The teen had been hanging on the bars. His eyes lit up as he saw the state alchemist and he smiled as he waved at Yukio. "This is the guy that claims to know you," he said, "You recognize him?"

Yukio glared at Ling before sighing. He really wanted to say no, but he couldn't. As annoying as Ling could be, he didn't deserve to be in prison. Plus, it would become an international political nightmare if he were left to rot in an Amestrian prison. The country had enough feuds with other countries to worry about for right now. "Unfortunately, yes," he admitted.

"So is what he says true? That he's visiting royalty?" the cop said, still skeptical.

"Yup," Yukio said, "You're looking at the 12th son of the emperor and next head of the Yao clan."

The cop's mouth opened a little as his eyes grew wide. "Oh!" he said, "Well in that case…" He went to unlock Ling's cell and the prince stepped out. "Sorry about that, Sir," he said, "We don't get many visitors from Xing and you didn't have an official passport so we assumed you might have been some criminal escaping from you country. Have a good day sir."

Ling nodded as he and Yukio left the building. "Phew! Am I glad to be out of there!" Ling said, "Thanks for helping me out buddy!" He slung an arm around Yukio.

Yukio's eye twitched. "Please stop," he said. Ling shrugged and let go of him. "So you didn't listen to me after all," Yukio said, "You actually went looking for the philosopher's stone...why am I not surprised."

"Yes," Ling said, "And you'll never guess what I found." Yukio raised an eyebrow. Had he actually done it? Did this idiot actually find the stone? "Your brother," Ling said with a smile, "I told you I'd look out for him."

Yukio blinked. He then groaned. "Let me guess, you mooched food off of him too," he said.

"I did not!" Ling said in offence, "He offered it to me out of the goodness of his heart! And it was amazing!" Yukio rolled his eyes. "No really it was," he said, "Your brother is a master cook! You must tell me his secret."

"You'll have to ask him that, he's the better cook," Yukio said.

"No, I mean tell me his real secret," Ling said. Yukio paused in his tracks. He turned to the Xingese prince who was now staring at him seriously. "I know you can sense it," Ling said, "His chi is phenomenally powerful. No creature on Earth has a life force quite like it, and I want to know why." 'Except for what I've felt here in central…' he thought.

Yukio gave him a dangerous look as he moved his hand toward his holster. As an Alkehestrist, he couldn't play dumb. He knew exactly what Ling had been talking about. Rin had exuded a powerful aura around him. It felt like you were facing off against a tornado. When he had first come to the hospital after Lab 5, he couldn't tell that it was Rin exuding this power, as he never had before. "If you even think about hurting him-" he warned.

"I promise I won't hurt him," Ling said, "I'm not going to sacrifice him so I can get what I want. But I do want to know what the reason is, because while I have not sensed another quite as powerful, I can feel this city bursting with similar chi signatures."

"Yukio relaxed slightly but frowned, "Sorry, but I still can't tell you," Yukio said, "But I can tell you this: Those other signatures that are like Rin? Leave them alone. If you try to seek them out, you will most likely experience a fate worse than death."

Ling raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?" he asked, moving his feet into a defensive stance.

"No, it's a warning," he clarified, "Please stay away from them. It's for your own good."

With that, Yukio walked away. Ling watched him leave. If he were anyone else, he might have given up looking into this city at that point however, he wasn't anyone else.

...

Rin knocked on their dorm room door. "Ed? Al?" he called, "I know you're in there! Come out!" He didn't get a response. He sighed and jiggled the door handle as he tried to open the door. Damn it. Locked. Well, at least he knew they were actually in there.. "Come on! Unlock the door!" he called to them inside. Still no response. Rin sighed. How was he supposed to get in. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he thought. Maybe he could bust it down. His eyes widened as he felt something metal in his pockets. He pulled it out curiously and then wanted to smack himself for his own stupidity. Oh, duh. His keys. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. Ed was hunched over on the couch, glaring at the ground and Al was sitting inside the bathroom with the sink running next to him.

Rin felt terrible for them. "Ed?" he said, "Are you alright?"

Ed simply glared at Rin weakly. There was less anger in his eyes than guilt. Rin winced before walking over to Alphonse. He turned off the sink and kneeled down next to him. "You're gonna make the water bill skyrocket around here like that!" he joked lightly. Al looked up at him momentarily before looking down again without a word.

Rin bit his lip as he looked between the brothers. He didn't feel exactly guilty, as he knew this would happen either way, but he still felt bad.

"Guys...it's alright," he said, "I know you are upset, but she's safe! She's alive. Everyone is." Rin got no response. "Come on guys!" he said hopping up, "We still have to get that message to Hughes! You know how urgent it is! He's probably back in the office by now."

"No…" Ed said finally.

"Huh?" Rin responded, worry written in his face.

"We're not dragging anyone else into this again," Ed said, "They just keep getting hurt because of us…"

Rin's brow furrowed. "I told you it's not your fault!" Rin snapped, "It was his decision to get involved!"

"But Elicia didn't have a choice!" Ed shouted, looking up. "She had nothing to do with anything and now she's lost part of herself because of it!" he said, "Do you know what it's like to lose a limb?! It's extremely traumatic! No one that young should have to go through that. But once again we weren't able to protect even a little girl! If you hadn't stopped that demon that attacked them, who knows what would have happened!" Ed huffed before growling and looking down again. "We knew searching for the stone would get us into all kinds of danger...but we never thought…" Ed continued quietly, "We never thought about how this string of trouble could become a web. And now Elicia's in the same situation I was three years ago…" Ed shook his head. "It's like everything we touch gets hurt," he said, "Nina, Dr. Marcoh, the town of Liore, the Hugheses…"

"Martel and Roa…" Al finally spoke up.

"And even you, Rin," Ed finished.

Rin blinked in surprise. "Me?!"he questioned, "but I'm fine!"

"You're stuck as a demon because of us!" Ed interjected, "You quite literally lost your humanity! If we hadn't let you come with us to lab 5, you'd still be human! You would have been better off if you hadn't followed-"

"Ok, shut up!" Rin spat, "There is no way I'm letting you take credit for my shitty decisions ok? They're my decisions. I made them, not you, and there is nothing on Earth that you could have used to stop me, got it?" Ed blinked in surprise, but he let Rin continue. "Second of all, you searching for the stone or not wouldn't have changed the fact that those homunculi exist, and would have done horrible things to anyone who went looking for those secrets," Rin said, "And stop being so dramatic! Not everyone you come in contact with gets hurt. What about my dad? Or Riza? Or Winry, or Armstrong?" "Besides, you haven't caused any of this," he said, "Half of those bad things that happened to those people are completely unrelated to you. Like Marcoh! Scar would have still gone after him if we hadn't been there. We helped him in the end! As for the rest of us, we chose to follow you into this mess, you didn't make us, so if you are going to be in way over your head, at least let us be."

Ed was silent. There was a great deal of truth to those words. He had been being a little over dramatic. Still his guilt did not subside. Elisia…why did she have to be the one to get hurt? "Come on guys," Rin said, "I need to show you something. You'll feel better when you do." Rin began walking towards the door. The Elric brothers looked up at him curiously and he turned to them. "Hey!" he warned teasingly, "Don't make me drag you guys, because I will. I have demon strength after all." Al and Ed looked at each other before getting up and following him. They decided they didn't want to be literally dragged anywhere, although they didn't know exactly what Rin had in mind and were a little apprehensive about it to say the least.

…

Yukio stepped back into his office to find Winry working on some blueprints. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Good," she said, "I think I have enough designs done based on what you told me they wanted...a good, lightweight one for playing sports that looked organic...I just need her measurements and for them to make a few final decisions and we should be set to start building."

Yukio smiled at her. "Is that your way of saying you're ready to see her?" he asked.

She sighed and nodded while smiling. She rolled up her design sheets and walked down the hall with Yukio. She was slightly apprehensive, but mostly she was worried about her own reaction. She didn't want to react badly and upset her. So, she steeled herself. She had to appear as if nothing was wrong. For Elicia's sake.

They entered her room and found her on the ground playing jacks with her father. She bounced the ball once and picked up four jacks in her tiny hand. "Great job, Sweetheart!" her father cheered, "My turn!" He bounced the ball and picked up six. "Ehheh! Looks like I win this round!" He said.

"Aww...you always win!" she pouted, "Your hands are too big!"

"Sorry, Sweetie," he said, "But don't worry. Someday you'll have hands just as big!"

"No!" she said, "I'm gonna have bigger hands! Just you wait and see!"

Winry covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "Well that's certainly something to strive for!" Yukio said with a smile.

The pair turned to them. Elica smiled brightly at them. "Winry! Yuki!" she said, "Hiiiiii!~" she waved at them while her eyes sparkled brightly.

"Good to see you again, Winry!" Hughes said with a smile.

Winry felt her heart swell with warmth. She was still just so cute! "Good to see you Mr. Hughes. Hey little missy!" she said, walking over to them, "How are you doing?" She crouched down to eye level with the girl.

"Great!" she said, "I'm really happy you came to see me! Daddy said you had an extra special gift for me. Is it true?"

Winry blinked for a second in slight confusion. Did he mean the- "She's talking about the leg, Winry," he said, "I understand we'll still be paying for it though."

She nodded in understanding. "Yup! I haven't built it yet, but I am going to be making your new leg," she confirmed.

Elicia's eyes widened. "You're gonna build it yourself?" she asked.

"Yup!" Winry said, "I work as an automail mechanic so I built legs and arms all the time for people who need them, And now I'll be making a leg for you. I even make Ed's automail!"

"Really?" She said, getting excited, "Can you make me automail, then?"

Winry's mouth twitched at that. Elicia was much too young for automail surgery. "LET'S," Maes interjected, "wait until you're older for that, sweetheart!"

"Awwww…" Elicia said, "But I promise I'll be careful with it!"

Both of them sighed at the little girl. "That's not the issue, but that's good to note someone will be…" she muttered, thinking of one of her other clients. "How bout I make you a second one with a shiny metal casing so it looks like automail, ok?" she said.

Elicia smiled at that. "Ok!" she said, satisfied with that.

Maes was not so happy as he bit his lip and mentally calculated how much extra that would be. He didn't want to say no to his little girl, but with all the medical costs they had racked up in the past few days, he knew they were going to be a bit tight on cash. Winry caught this. "Don't worry," she said, "the second one will be half off. I know you've been through a lot lately and even though you're a lieutenant colonel you don't exactly get a state alchemist's salary."

Maes sighed in relief and smiled. "Thank you," he said, "I really appreciate that."

Winry gave him a thumbs up. "No problem!" she said before pulling out her measuring tape, "Now, let's get those leg measurements!"

….

"You brought us to the hospital?" Al questioned staring up at the building, "Wait, are you taking us to see Elica?!"

"Eyup!" Rin said with a smile.

"How is that supposed to make us feel better?!" Edward snapped. Was he trying to make them feel terrible? The last thing they wanted to see was that little girl in such pain that was all too familiar to him. Al was thinking the same thing. He didn't know if he could take seeing...that look...on her face.

"Trust me, it will!" Rin said, grabbing their hands and literally dragging them along, "Come on! Don't be such babies." With that they entered the hospital, the brothers dreading what was to come next. They made their way up to the third floor of the hospital where Elicia was. Each step seemed to feel harder to take, at the same time, they knew they had to do this. They couldn't just run away from their problems and the trouble they've caused. They had to face it. That was the only way to move forward, to accept the situation. They both took a deep breath before entering the room.

Their eyes first went to the hospital bed, where they were surprised to find she wasn't there. She was instead sitting on the floor infront of Winry as she watched her work. She turned to them as the door opened and she smiled, bright and happy. As in, genuine happy. Like there was absolutely nothing wrong in the world. "Hi Ed! Hi Al!" she called, waving enthusiastically at them.

This caused Winry to look up. She smiled at them. "Hey guys! Glad to see you could stop by," she said, "What are you guys doing here? Weren't you heading to Central Command?"

"Well we're here mostly because of Rin…" Ed admitted. The teenage half demon waved and pushed himself to the front.

"Hey guys!" he said, "Good to see you again Elicia!"

The little girl broke out into an even wider grin as Rin walked up to her. "Kitty-Rin!" she cheered, "You're back! I missed you lots!"

Everyone's eyes widened at this, Rin's especially. "Excuse me…" Winry said slowly, "But did she just call you 'Kitty-Rin'?" When he didn't respond, she took that as a yes and had to clasp a hand over her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing. It didn't work. "Oh my god!" she chortled, "That is so cuuute!"

While her laughter had been good-natured, Ed's and Al's snickering had been less so. "Kitty-Rin?!" Ed exclaimed, "Seriously? How'd you get that nickname?"

Rin flushed in embarrassment. "Elicia!" he hissed, "I told you not to call me that!"

"Oops!" Elicia squeaked, slapping her hands over her mouth, "Sorry, cousin Rin…" She looked down at the ground.

Rin sighed. "It's alright," he said, "Just don't do it again, ok?" Elica nodded.

Ed and Al's laughter slowly began to quiet. "You done?" Rin said.

"Yeah," Ed said, "We're done."

"Sorry, Rin," Al said, "We just weren't expecting that. If it makes you feel better, we don't think any less of you for the name."

"Sure," Rin said, rolling his eyes, "and Ed isn't going to use it against me some day. Why don't you guys come over and say hi to Elicia?" Rin got up and started heading for the door. "I'm going to go see what Yukio is up to if he's around," he called over his shoulder.

The two teenage boys left in the room then slowly turned back to the little girl, a bit awkwardly. "Hey Elicia," Edward said, a lot more relaxed than when he had walked in, but still apprehensive about her prospective response, "How are you doing?" he asked, kneeling down next to her.

"Good!"she chirped, "Winry's making me new legs just like you! Isn't that awesome?"

Ed blinked slightly. He had realized she had bounced back but he didn't realize it would be this well. She acted like she wasn't bothered by the loss of her leg at all. And the comparison to him...did she really think his automail was so great? "Yeah that is," he said, "Elicia...Have you had any problems with pain in your leg?"

She frowned a little. "Sometimes," she said, "Sometimes my leg hurts even though Yuki says there's nothing wrong with it…but they go away pretty quickly, and Yuki gives me medicine to help!" She ended with a smile.

Ed winced slightly before smiling. Phantom pains. They weren't fun in the least, but it was good to know she was handling them well. He felt himself fill with relief. No, she wasn't in a good situation. Things were going to be difficult for a while, but she was already doing really well. It had taken him longer to get back to normal, but granted, he had been dealing with the guilt of messing up their lives. Still, he there would have been a good chance he still might have been sitting in some corner somewhere, filled with nothing but bitterness at the world if Mustang hadn't come to give him his spiel about becoming a state alchemist. It was good to see she wasn't letting it bother her.

"Do you wanna play jacks?" she asked.

"Sure!" Al said, "We'd love to!"

She suddenly frowned. "No, not you!" She said, "You'd be cheating because your hands are so big! Ed's hands are much smaller."

Ed's eye twitched in annoyance. "I do not have tiny baby hands!" he snapped, though he tried to control his volume, "They are a perfectly normal size!"

"That's not what she meant, brother…" Al sighed.

….

The streetlights lit up outside Central Command as dusk set in. Riza glanced into the room where she saw Roy Mustang was packing up for the day. She looked around the office. Everyone else had clocked out. Now was her chance to talk to him. She entered the room and he looked up and smiled in acknowledgement. "Hello Lieutenant," he said, "What are you doing here? I thought you had gone home."

"Sorry, Sir," she said, "There was just something I wanted to talk to you about." She closed the door behind her. Roy frowned. What is it.

"Well…"she started, "Earlier today, when I came to get Rin, I briefly overheard your discussion." "I heard you say how someone was trying to steal Rin's sword and that he was not allowed to use it," she continued, "What I want to know is why? What's so important about this sword? And why is he not allowed to use it?"

Roy inwardly panicked for a moment, trying to keep a straight face. How could he explain it to her without telling the truth? "It's an alchemic amplifier," he explained, "The blade is made from materials that can cause an alchemist's power ten fold. It was given to me by Shiro when he requested I take in the boys. It was a gift of gratitude. However it had been stolen from my home somehow by one of those homunculi. Rin ended up finding it in Lab 5."

Riza nodded, letting Roy relax slightly. "But why not let Rin use it then? Wouldn't he be better able to defend himself?" she asked.

"Well part of it is because opening it can cause his fame alchemy to become out of control," he said, "Simply keeping it on one's person is enough to cause a boost, but opening it can cause…disastrous effects. Instead of containing ten ounces of oxygen into one spot, he'll end up containing ten pounds."

"I see," Riza said, "Thank you, Sir. That's all." She then turned to leave.

"Have a good night," Roy called.

Riza paused in the doorframe before nodding and leaving. As she walked home, she couldn't help but feeling a small, hollow feeling in her chest. The panicked look in his eye had been enough to tip her off. He had deliberately lied to her. This wasn't just him forgetting to tell her, or not having a moment to do so. It wasn't even him not believing it was necessary for her to know. He didn't want her to know.

Her fists clenched as she reached the door to her apartment. And if didn't want her to know this…then what else was he hiding? She didn't know if this meant she could continue to trust him to watch her back...but some part of her, most likely a desperately hopeful one, told her she had to keep watching his...for now, anyways.

…

Father sat on his throne an annoyed scowl on his face. All day he had felt this...pulse, coming from the earth. It was like the drip of water. And it was constant since this morning. And the worst part was, it was getting louder and louder...or well, more intense, that is. He had tried causing small shifts to make it stop, but it didn't. What the heck was it?

He tapped his fingers in irritation. How the hell was he going to get rid of this? He hopped it wasn't permanent. He was starting to get a headache from it. It was so distracting that he couldn't even listen to his children's reports.

"As so I found out from that Sheska girl that was employed a few weeks ago that Roy's been doing some digging on us in the historical records," Envy said, "He and Mr. I-can't-stop-talking-about-my-goddamn-crotch-spawn are getting really close. They might have even started finding out about the connections between the blood marks so I think we should get Pride watching them a bit closer. Also the Pipsqueak, his brother, and the other Mustang brat are back. I overheard them going to talk to Roy and the others about the whole deal with Greed but apparently the ran out of the building crying when they found out about-"

"Wonderful, Envy," Father said, massaging his temples. Why did that kid have to recite his whole day and make snide comments about everything whenever he made a report?! "Lust, your report?" he asked.

"What?!" Envy exclaimed, "But I wasn't finished!"

"Envy, I said that's enough!" he snapped, silencing the temperamental homunculus, "If you had something else you wanted to say, then tell me later once you figured out how to cut down on needless details." Envy blinked before glaring and backing off, muttering to himself as he crossed his arms. Father sighed. "Now," he said, "Lust? What do you have to report?"

Lust hesitated at Father's sour mood for a moment before speaking. "Well, I believe from the intel I've gotten from Mustang's lovesick nit-wit," she said, "his Warrant Officer Vato Falman might not be out sick like they would have us think."

"That was going to be in my report!" Envy shouted from across the room. Father glared at him, causing him to once again shut his trap.

"Anyways…" Lust said, "I also believe they might be holding someone prisoner. Someone who had been a prisoner of ours not to long ago."

Had his head been in a better he would be taking this more seriously. Who knows what kind of information 66 could have given them. "Find out their location and retrieve him at once," Father said, "Now if there is nothing else-"

"Ooo! Oo!" Gluttony said, raising his hand, "I have a report!"

Father sighed. "Yes, Gluttony?" he said, very uninterested.

The large homunculus didn't seem to notice this. "I found a man who had found one of the entrances into our home and had run away from all the guardians," he said proudly, "so I ate him!"

Father raised an eyebrow. "He was no one important," Lust explained, "Just some half drunken idiot who had fallen through an open manhole and decided to go exploring."

Father sighed in relief. "Well, if that is everything," he started. Envy opened his mouth to speak. "Which it is," he said as glared at the androgynous homunculus who pouted in return, "Then you are all dismissed."

Envy grumbled as he stalked off, feeling jealous of his sister getting his Father's favor. Meanwhile, Gluttony and Lust walked away together. "I did good, right Lust?" he asked her.

She sighed. "Yes, yes you did," she responded with her usual relaxed smile. As they walked off her mind was elsewhere. Father had seemed distracted today. Usually he just lets Envy ramble, or at least for a few minutes longer before telling him to get to the point. He usually didn't just cut him off like that. Something must be troubling him.

"Astaroth!" Father called, "Astaroth come here at once!" There was a lurching from the pipes above before the demon jumped down and knelt before him. "Yes, my Lord?" ßhe asked, "What is it you need of me?"

"Tell me, are there any demons that can create pulses in the Earth?" Father questioned.

Astaroth blinked. A pulse? It sounded familiar, but it certainly wasn't an ability of any of his underlings… "I'm not sure…" he questioned, "Why do you ask?"

"There has been something pulsating through the earth all day, slowly getting more intense," he said, "I can't stop it and it's giving me a headache. If it is demon related, I want you to put an end to it right away."

Astaroth frowned but nodded as he walked away. He swore he knew what demon it was that did that, but he was completely blanking on it...He growled in frustration. He felt like he was forgetting something extremely important….


	30. Remember the Porter

A few days passed since his son and the Elric brothers returned to Central. Roy had hoped everything would be peaceful and that he would get to spend time with them. However, that did not seem to be the case. It all started that morning when Fuery came in with some shocking news: Falman's house had been broken into and searched. He had discovered it when he had been grabbing some things for the man from his apartment. When he arrived, the place was a mess. It was by no means trashed, but it was clearly disorganized. Now, for most people that wouldn't seem to bad, but it was a little know fact among Mustang's men that Flaman had a very strict system of organization, even in his home life. Organized enough that he could tell Fuery exactly where to find the objects he needed. When they weren't in the right place, this became a huge red flag for Fuery.

Roy stepped into the apartment, immediately beginning to search the area and scan for clues to who did it. They already had suspicions. But they had to be sure. "You know, this wasn't how I was hoping on spending my lunch break," Maes said as he stepped onto the carpeted floor.

"Good to see you're here," Roy said, "Where's Havock and Riza?"

"Riza's on her way I think," Maes said, "But Jean's on a date. He can't come."

Roy frowned. "Great…" he said, rolling his eyes.

Maes shrugged. "Oh lay off him, Roy!" he said, "Who knows. Maybe this'll be the one for him."

"With his luck? I doubt it," he said as they began searching the floor. There were no visible footprints, but they knew something was off. "Hey, do you smell that?" Maes asked, "Some kind of perfume...kinda familiar actually…"

Roy took a deep whiff before his eyes widened. "Yeah…" He said, "It smells like what my house smelled like when it was broken into…"

Maes turned to him in surprise. "Are you sure? You think it's the same person?"

"It might be," he said as he continued to search the floor. He padded around until he found a long black streak of hair. "Maes…"he questioned, "Does Falman's girlfriend have long black hair?"

Maes looked at him gravely. "He doesn't have a girlfriend," he noted.

"Then I think we found our culprit," he said.

….

It had been a long day. Edward and Alphonse had spent the entire time at the library looking for anything else that could help them, having Sheska pull out some of the most obscure documents on the subject. Alas they found nothing. "Man, I'm beat…" Edward said, "I feel like we're right back to square one…"

"Yeah, It's like the past few months never even happened!" Al lamented, "Maybe we should go back to teacher. She said she had someone to contact about it. Maybe we could at least get the person's number?"

Edward shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow we can call her up. I'm beat," he said with a sigh, reaching for the door handle to the dorm room, "Seriously, If I have to deal with anymore crap today…" He stopped talking as he opened the door. Inside he saw Rin and Winry serving dinner to Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu. They were eating brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, and Winry was about to sever Ling a piece of her famous apple pie. Ed's jaw dropped in shock and betrayal. She was giving Ling apple pie. Her extra special, one of a kind apple pie...and Rin was helping her. "WHAT THE HEEEELLL?!" Edward cried.

They all turned to him confused by his outburst. "Oh! Edward! Alphonse! You're back!" Winry said cheerfully.

"What the heck are you doing?! Why are you feeding them?!"he demanded, wanting an explanation for the horrible sight before him, "You're giving them your special apple pie!"

"Yeah, they asked nicely for it," Winry said simply.

"And it's amazing!" Ling piped up, "I've never had something so sweet! Do you think you could give me the recipe?"

"Aww!" Winry responded, "That's so kind of you to say, I-"

Edward suddenly marched up to Winry. "DON'T GIVE HIM ANYTHING!" he said, "Why are they even here?! Did you two invite them?!"

"No," Rin said, "They just sort of showed up. Winry was teaching me how to make the pie and then we decided to make the rest of dinner for you guys when they came along."

"It's true," Ling said.

Ed frowned but calmed down significantly. "So what are you doing here then?" he questioned.

"I told you I was going to stick around you until you told us the secret, and that's just what I plan on doing," he said with a smile, "And there's nothing you can do about-" He suddenly froze in his seat, eyes going wide. "What...the hell?!" he hissed. Lan Fan and Fu started having similar reactions, suddenly getting up out of their seats. Ed and the others gave them confused, worried looks. "What is that...what the hell is that?!" Ling hissed as he stared at the door.

"What?" Rin said, "What is what?"

The three Xingese travelers started backing away. "There's something evil out there…" Fu said darkly, "Some sort of unimaginable horror! I can feel it!"

"Horror?" Al questioned. They all became tense.

"You can feel something bad is going to happen?" Winry questioned.

Lan Fan nodded. "Yes...there's some sort of evil being in this building…" She hissed, "And it's coming closer." They all exchanged alarmed looks and they went to grab their collective weapons.

"It's at the door now!" Ling said, causing them all to turn and move towards it, preparing for an attack. They all waited for the door to bust open but it didn't. "It just...stopped," Ling said. He frowned in confusion. The presence was still there. He could feel it overwhelming him. It felt like being just out of reach of an earthquake. There was a pounding beneath his feet but nothing moved or shook. Still he wanted to run as far away as he could; yet he still stood his ground. Several minutes passed. Nothing moved.

Then there was a knock at the door. They all gave perplexed looks. Why was this apparent monster knocking at the door? When a minute passed there was another knock, slightly louder and more annoyed than before. Rin and Edward shared looks before carefully approaching the door. They could pretend that no one was there, but the monster might be able to sense them. Plus, their curiosity was killing them. They just had to see what it was.

Edward steeled himself as he prepared to open the door. Rin stood ready behind him, slowly opening the red case containing Kurikara. Al pressed his hands together, ready to transmute if necessary. Fu, Lan Fan, and Ling got into defensive positions, ready to spring into action. Winry sat on the couch in a mix of fear and confusion. They all quickly became just as confused as Ed opened the door to reveal a tall, scrawny stranger chewing gum and staring down at him with eyes that were somehow hollow and intense at the same time. He had pointed green hair...scratch that, green hair with a point, stylistically torn up black and green clothing that made him look like a Goth hobo, heavy boots, and a pale complexion. There were dark circles under his wide eyes, his ears ended in long points, and he was surrounded by a very uncomfortable aura. It didn't seem threatening, but simply mildly unsettling. They all stood around in silence for a moment as the man continued to chew his gum, not moving. He blew a large bubble, popped it, and returned the gum to his mouth before speaking. "Hello," he simply said.

Ed blinked and glanced to the others before speaking. "Uh...Hi?" he asked.

"Sorry to bother you but is," he said in a semi monotone before holding up his hand and glancing at the scribble writing on it, "'Edward Earwic' there?"

Edward frowned, taking a slight step back in suspicion. "It's Elric…" he said, "And yes, I'm him. Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm Amaimon, the demon king of earth," he stated simply, causing everyone else in the room to look alarmed aside from Winry, who was still confused.

Ling shared looks with Fu and Lan Fan in surprise. "Did he he just say demon king?!" he questioned, "Of the entire earth?" The two shrugged. This was certainly news to him. He turned back, but instead of keeping his eyes locked on Amaimon, they were on Rin. He had heard of demons before in stories. If this person was not only a demon but a demon king and he had a chi signature so similar to Rin, what did that make Rin?

"Demon king?" Winry questioned, "You're joking, right? What even is that?"

Amaimon ignored her. "I need you to come with me," Amaimon said, grabbing Ed's arm.

"What?!" Ed cried, "No way! Why do I have to come with you?!" He tried to pull his arm away, but Amaimon had his hand practically in a death grip.

"Get your hands off him!" Rin said, lunging for him. Amaimon let go Ed to catch Rin and push him back, sending him flying across the room and hitting a wall.

"RIN!" his three friends shouted as the Xingese travelers looked on in alarm. Amaimon continued to look on with disinterest.

"Anyways," Amaimon said, "My brother said you owe him a favor, so I'm here to retrieve you."

"Brother?" Al questioned, "Who's your brother?"

"Mephisto," he said, "He says you made a deal with him so now he wants you to pay him back."

Ed growled. Damn that bastard. "What's going on?" Winry asked worry in her eyes, "Ed what kind of deal did you make?!"

"Brother, what did you do?" Al said, concern deep in his voice. He didn't know much about demons...but he swore he saw something while inside the gate about people trading their souls for deals with them.

"Yes…" Ling said, "I'd like to know what kind of deal this is too…"

"I tried to get information from him on how to fix Al in exchange for a favor," Ed admitted before turning to the demon angrily, "Which by the way, I didn't end up using, so no, I will not be doing him a favor. There was no equivalent exchange. What he gave me had no value to me and there was no consequence to him for giving it to me, therefore I owe him nothing!"

The demon king blinked and stared at Ed. His eyes opening slightly to indicate disbelief. Then a certain amount of delight entered his eyes. His mouth opened, revealing his sharp fangs before he started to laugh. "Really? Equivalent exchange?!" Amaimon laughed, "You think that stupid rule you humans made applies here? I thought Brother said you'd be smart!"

Ed's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He questioned.

"No demon deal is equivalent, that's not the point, stupid," he explained, as his laughter died, "The point is you promised my brother a favor in return for information. You're going to repay that favor whether you like it or not."

Ed growled, turning his automail arm into a blade. "Sorry buddy, but that isn't happening," he growled. Al and Rin moved forward, ready for a fight. The Xingese travelers stood ready as support, but didn't move forward. The demon's aura made it very clear to them they wouldn't be winning any fight with this creature...though Rin's own power kept them from completely backing off. The three would only attack if needed.

"Oh, does this mean you're resisting?" Amaimon said, a hint of excitement in his voice, "Yay! That means I get to use plan B!" He suddenly darted forward and gently poked Ed's flesh shoulder.

Ed's eyes widened and sudden pain tore through his entire body. "GAH!" he cried as he she suddenly fell over. The pain was quickly replaced by numbness as his whole body became unresponsive. "What the hell?!" he shouted.

Everyone looked shocked. "ED!" They all cried.

"Oh no…you've become paralyzed…" Amaimon said in a less than sympathetic voice as he grinned slightly at Ed's limp form. Ed stared back up at him in fear. He swallowed at that unsettling grin.

"All it took...was a poke…" Ling whispered in horror, "...not even a jab!"

"Brother!" Al cried before turning to Amaimon, "What did you do?! Fix him now!"

"Hmmm…."the demon said, "...Nah. Don't feel like it."

"If you don't fix him now we'll make you, you bastard!" Rin shouted as attempted to slam Amaimon in the face. Alphonse also tried to swing at him but Amaimon caught their hands in his own. He threw Alphonse through a wall and Forced Rin's arm behind him.

"Alphonse!" Ed and Winry cried at the same time. Winry and Ling moved to see if he was ok.

Meanwhile, Amaimon's attention was now on Rin. "Let me go!" Rin shouted, "Let me go so I can kick your ass!"

Amaimon stroked his chin. "Hmmm...You're Rin right?" he said, "Brother said something about you…" "Oh that's right!" he said, snapping his fingers, "Brother said I needed to bring you too!" He then flicked Rin in the back of the head. The boy gasped before he was suddenly knocked unconscious. Amaimon dropped him and he fell like a rag doll.

"Rin!" Ed cried, trying to force himself to move to no avail. Everyone turned at his outburst.

"Rin, no!" Al cried, struggling to get up in his now dented armor.

"Well, goodbye then," Amaimon said as if nothing had happened, picking up Edward and Rin.

"Hey!" Ling shouted, "Get back here! Leave them be!"

Fu and Lan Fan had to stop him from chasing after the demon. "No, Young Lord! It's too dangerous!" Fu said. That didn't stop the prince from trying to get through his guards.

However, nothing was stopping Winry. She chased after him as he began walking down the hall. "Leave them alone!" she shouted, "Drop them now, you monster!" She threw a wrench straight at his head.

However, Amaimon didn't get hit. In the blink of an eye he had turned around, dropped Ed, and caught it. He looked her dead in the eye. He was so tempted to send it flying back at the pretty blonde's head and crack it open, or go over there and gouge out her eyes for his cousin…*sigh* but Mephisto had told him he wasn't allowed to kill and/or seriously injure anyone. So instead he simply continued to look her in the eye as he crumpled up the wrench in his hand as if it were made of tinfoil. Winry's jaw dropped at this. He then dropped it on the ground and slammed his foot into the tile floor. There was a rumble before Winry was suddenly flung through the air by a piston made from the tile. She screamed as she flew through the air,

"WINRY!" Edward cried, trying to force himself to move again. Alas, he couldn't even twitch.

"Now, if there are no more distractions…" Amaimon said, picking Ed back up. Suddenly the there was the running down the hall. Amaimon cocked his head curiously before several soldiers slid into the hall to see what the commotion was. The to one look at the demon king and immediately pulled out their guns.

"FREEZE," one shouted.

"Wow," Amaimon said, "This looks like it's going to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be." He then rushed at the guards. With one leap and then a stomp they were sent flying through the air, just like Winry.

Amaimon continued down the hall until her ran into a large bald man with a yellow mustache, a woman with black hair and a mole on her cheek, and a mousy looking young man with semi long dirty blond hair.

They blinked at the strange man in punk hobo garb. "Excuse me," he said, "but you're in my way."

It took them a second to realize it, but they noticed that the man was carrying two teenagers under his arms: Rin and Edward. "ELRIC?! YOUNG MUSTANG?!" Armstrong bellowed in surprise.

"Armstrong? It that you?" Edward from his backwards position, "Help! Get this guy off me!"

"SAY NO MORE ELRIC!" He said throwing off his shirt and brandishing his gauntlets, "I SHALL SAVE YOU!" Denny and Maria Ross also pulled out their guns, ready to fire if necessary.

Amaimon blinked. "Was taking your shirt off really necessary?" he questioned, "What sort of advantage do you receive by stripping? Doesn't exposing yourself make you more vulnerable?"

"AN ARMSTRONG IS ANYTHING BUT VULNERABLE!" he roared, "YOU WILL SEE AS YOU WITNESS THE TECHNIQUE THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR-" The major was cut off as Amaimon momentarily dropped Rin to deliver a power uppercut to Armstrong's lower jaw. A tooth came flying out of the man's mouth and Denny and Maria stared on in shock. Armstrong teetered for a moment, muscles lax before he fell backwards, hitting the ground like a lead weight. He was completely out cold.

"MAJOR!" his two subordinates cried, kneeling down to make sure he was alright.

"Well that was dull," Amaimon said, picking up Rin, "He really got my hopes up for a good fight. Too bad I guess." He went to leave before he heard the cocking of guns. He glanced to either side of him where he saw Denny and Maria both pointing guns at him.

"Drop the boys and put your hands up," Maria said, "NOW!" He did so. He slowly raised his hand in the air as he released Edward and Rin...and used his now free hands to grab and crush the barrels of their guns. They gasped in horror.

"Really? Threatening to shoot me?" Amaimon sighed as he picked up Rin and Ed, "You guys are so boring. Maybe I was wrong. This is going to be just as dull as I thought…" They gaped at the strange man as he started leaving.

"Wha-What the hell?!" Denny questioned as they watched him run down the hall. "H-how did he...He just-!" He stuttered, shaking.

"I don't know," Maria said, "But we can't just let a man as dangerous as that go free. Come on! Let's go call in reinforcements!"

…

Father's headache was now earsplitting. The pulse was now like a subwoofer going off inside his skull. "Damn it!" he growled, "What is this?!" He clutched his skull. "ASTAROTH!" he shouted. The demon came to his side quickly. "I thought you said you'd take care of whatever this pulsing is?!"he growled.

Astaroth's eye twitched in annoyance. "I'm trying," the demon growled, "But it's hard to do that when I don't know what's been causing it!"

"Father!" Pride suddenly called, a sense of urgency in his voice, "One of the sacrifices has been kidnapped, as well as Rin Mustang!"

"What?!" Both the homunculus and the demon exclaimed.

"Why didn't you stop him?!" Father demanded.

"I did try…" Pride hissed, "He somehow out ran me. He kept dodging my shadows and there were too many civilians around to try and engulf him."

"He out ran you?!" Father demanded, "Impossible! No one can outrun you!"

Astaroth stroked his chin and he frowned. "Tell me…"he asked, "What did this person look like?" There were few demons that could out pace Pride and even fewer that could take on human form. It they were lucky, it would be one of the weaker spirits under Azael's control.

Pride frowned, feeling like a victim being interviewed in those films Wrath's wife enjoyed so much. "The perpetrator had ragged dark clothing, a pale complexion, rings around his eyes," he described, "and green pointed hair."

Astaroth's eyes widened. "Did you say green pointed?!" he questioned. Damn it! Not him! This could ruin all of their plans! "DAMN HIM!" he cried, "What the hell is that little bastard doing here?! How did he get here?! Who the fuck let him out of his little dimension?!" He tugged on his horns, trying to figure out a way to fix this. Why did that wild child have to show up now?! And why take their sacrifice? Rin he could understand, but why the sacrifice? There was no way he could face off against Amaimon like this being so unprepared. He couldn't exactly go up there in his current vessel. People would recognize it. He would need at least twelve more naberius or the impure king to take him out by brute force, and there were no barriers or traps set up to stop him. He slammed a fist into the nearest pipe before digging his claws into it, letting the steam leak out.

"You know the perpetrator?" Father questioned, rubbing his temple.

"Unfortunately…" Astaroth snarled, "He's Amaimon, the demon king of Earth. He's been causing your headaches and has given me many a migraine. In fact...I feel one coming on as we speak…"

...

"Winry?!" Al called as he ran into the hall, "Winry, are you alright?" He knelt down beside her as she dizzily sat up. She blink for a moment before processing what just happened. Her eyes then widened in horror.

"Winry, are you alright?!" Al repeated.

She turned to him in surprise. "Am I alright?!" She questioned, "You should be asking if Ed and Rin are alright! What the heck was that?!" "Who was that guy Al?!"she cried hysterically, "Was he one of the people from lab 5?! How did he do that thing with the tile?! And he crushed my wrench with his bare hands! Is he even human?! What is he? Why was he after Rin and Ed?! What sort of favor is this guy's brother after?! Is he going to hurt them?! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Tears were streaming down her face. She was scared and confused and angry and terrified.

"W-Winry, calm down!" Al said, not really sure what to do. He had no idea how to make her feel better at this point.

"I DON'T WANT TO CALM DOWN!" She screamed, pounding a fist on his metal chest plate before covering her face with her hands, "Edward and Rin are being carted off to who knows where by God knows what to be tortured or turned into slaves or or something! And I still have barely any idea how he got into this mess! What the heck is a demon king?! Is it some kind of gang name?! Did Ed get involved with the mafia?!"

"No he didn't-" Al started.

"I'd like to know what that monster was too," Ling said, stepping out into the hall. His look was sever. "That thing felt like it had crawled out of the deepest darkest pits of the underworld, what the hell was that thing?!" he questioned.

"Umm…." Al said, not sure what to do. He didn't feel comfortable revealing Rin and Yukio's secret. And to be honest, he didn't fully understand the situation himself. "T-there's no time for that right now!" he said, "We have to go catch that guy before it's too late!" He stood up.

Ling and the other Xingese travelers frowned. "You may have to, but the Young Lord does not need to put his life on the line, facing that...THING for you so you can-" Lan Fan interjected. However, Ling cut her off by shoving a hand in front of her.

"Alright, we'll help," he said, "Get us some of those hand held radios and we'll track him if he escapes the building...but you have to tell us the truth when this is all said and done, no matter what happens." Al nodded and he headed inside the dorm, transmuting the heater and a radio into some walkie-talkies. The three foreigners took the radios and headed out through the window.

Alphonse then turned to Winry who was clutching her arms. His heart broke as he saw her like this. "Winry?" he asked carefully, "Are you alright?"

"Of course not!" she snapped, startling him, "Your brother's been kidnapped and you still aren't telling me anything!"

"I'm sorry Winry," he said, looking down shamefully.

"Don't apologize, idiot!" she shouted, surprising Alphonse, "You brother is still being kidnapped! Don't just stand there like an idiot! Go after him and stop that maniac before it's too late!"

Alphonse suddenly stood at attention. "Right!" he said, running out the door. "And you better tell me everything when you get him back!" she snapped, still sniffling, "I don't want anymore lying ok!"

…

"So Fuery and Hawkeye will be stationed in the clock tower if anything goes wrong," Roy said, setting up his strategy. "Havock and Hughes will be the front line of defense in case of an attack. Breda will remain at Central command as to not arouse suspicion."

"Damn," Breda said with a smirk, "You're really going to have me miss out on all the fun?"

"Well at least you'll be getting paid," Havock said, "Besides, you're the only one without a reason to be out. Fuery's visiting his mother, Hawkeye's going to see Rebecca, Maes is visiting his daughter, and I've got-"

"Solaris, we know!" Breda said, rolling his eyes.

Havock frowned. "I was going to say a dental appointment…" Jean grumbled, glaring at him.

"Sure you were," the redhead responded, rolling his eyes.

"I was! Stop being so jealous!"

"ANYWAYS," Roy said getting irritated, "Remember your code names everyone. Maes, for this mission, your code name will be Maddie, got it?"

Maes raised an eyebrow but didn't complain as he nodded. After all, everyone else got a women's name for a code name.

"Good," he said, "Now-"

All of a sudden the phone in the office began to ring. Roy raised an eyebrow but reached to pick it up. "Hello?" he answered, "Maria? What's going on?" Roy's eyes suddenly widened in horror. "WHAT?!" he shouted, "What did he look like?"

The colonel's team exchanged confused and worried looks. As the colonel slammed the phone on the receiver Riza spoke up. "Colonel, what's going on?" She asked.

"Rin and Edward have been kidnapped," he growled as he ran out the door, "Someone knocked them out and snatched them out of the dorm!"

The group all exchanged shocked looks before following after him. They all ran as fast as they could towards the dormitory across the military campus. They hoped they could get to the boys in time.

…

Envy ran down the hall in his usual Striker disguise. He couldn't believe he was having to protect the pipsqueak! He knew it was part of his job to keep him alive, but it was still strange having to protect a human. And after causing so many problems for him and beating him half to death, it almost made him feel dirty. He really hoped this wasn't going to have to do this too often.

He turned the corner just in time to see the freak lugging the two boys around. Envy smiled as he reached for his gun. Well, this was going to be easy. "Well, well, well…" He said, pulling the gun from his holster, "You came right to me. Lucky me!"

"No don't!" Ed said. Although at first he tried to get people to help him, he quickly learned that Amaimon was an unstoppable force. The bullets wouldn't work. Plenty of other guards attempted what he was at closer range and failed. Envy didn't listen though. It was just one stupid human after all, and he was only about ten feet away. He raised the gun and fired point blank at the pointy haired freak's head…but that didn't seem to stop him. The bullet hit his skull and made a hole. But then to Envy's horror there was a squelching noise before it pushed itself out and the wound closed up.

"What the...hell?!" he said in a hushed tone, "How is that possible?!" No human could do that! He wasn't a homunculus either. He couldn't be...So that meant he could only be one thing: a demon. Shit.

Envy took up a defensive stance, unsure of what to do. He could reveal himself and try hand-to-hand combat, but then he'd reveal to the pipsqueak that Striker was only his civilian disguise. Damn it! Why did he have to be conscious?! This whole situation was a confusing mess, but the most confusing part was why had the demon not attacked yet.

Even Ed was confused by this. Usually the soldier would be down for the count by this point, but Amaimon was just staring at him with his head cocked to the side. Envy felt a shiver go up his spine. Those eyes. It was like they were reading his soul...er, souls. "You know…" the demon finally said, "You remind me of my Brother's pet leviathan."

Envy blinked at the seemingly randomness of that comment. Then he became enraged. "What the hell did you call m-" he shouted, but was cut off as Amaimon suddenly lunged forward at impossible speeds to knee him in the stomach with the force of a train. Envy coughed up blood as he crumpled to the floor. His insides were mush, particularly his lungs. It took every ounce of control he had not to release his form. He twitched as he looked up at the demon with bleary eyes.

Amaimon looked down at him with contempt. "I always hated that thing," he said in his usual apathetic tone, "It always tried to pick fights with my behemoth and Egyn never tried to stop it or clean up its messes." With that he adjusted Edward and walked away whistling.

Edward looked on in horror at the man crumpled on the ground. "Y-you killed him!" he breathed in shock as he watched the man cough up more blood.

"Nah, he's fine," Amaimon dismissed as he continued on his merry way.

Envy glared at them as they disappeared around the corner. When they finally did, he allowed himself to heal. Damn him! Damn...whomever that demon's name was…He'd get back at him eventually!

"Envy!" Pride's voice suddenly spoke, "Do not attempt to approach the intruder with normal weapons. He's…" Pride cut himself off at he realized what he had just missed.

"A demon, I know," he rasped, rolling his eyes as he got up. He hissed and grunted in pain as his organs were still trying to reconstruct themselves.

"Not just a demon, I'm afraid," the shadow homunculus said gravely, "A demon king."

Envy's eyes widened before narrowing again. He growled and slammed a fist against the wall, causing it to crack. Well this was just fan tucking fastic….

…

The three Xingese travelers waited on a rooftop outside the dorms. All of a sudden, the doors burst open and the perpetrator came running out of the room. "There he is!" Fu hiss. They watched him, getting their radios ready. Their eyes widened in surprise as they saw him suddenly run up the side of a building, Edward screaming bloody murder the entire time.

"...I'm not imagining things, am I?" Ling questioned. The other two shook their heads "no". They snapped out of their surprise as they saw he was hopping roof tops. The ran after him as fast as they could, barely able to keep up.

"Man this guy is fast!" Ling noted.

"It is to be expected considering the fact that he's inhuman," Lan Fan added.

They kept chasing him, following his chi signature. All of a sudden, he stopped on a roof top. They were confused as he turned around to stare at them. They landed across the roof of the building, trying to hide in the shadows. Hopefully he hadn't seen them.

Unfortunately, he did. "I know you're there," he said, "Come out. I'm in no mood for hide and seek." They exchanged looks before Lan Fan and Ling carefully stepped out of the shadows, keeping their distance. "What do you want?" the demon demanded, "Are you here to fight me too?"

Ed's eyes widened at that. Oh no...He wasn't really going to try to too, was he? "Get out of here, stupid prince!" he called, "You'll get pulverized!"

"We aren't here to fight," Ling said, nodding to Fu, signaling him to call in their location.

"So why have you been trailing me?" the demon questioned, "You know, it's rude to follow people."

"We just want to know what you are," Ling said with a smile, stalling for time. Hopefully if he could keep him here long enough, Alphonse could get people over here. "You said you were a demon king, but what does that entail? Do you have a throne? Come on! Tell us about yourself! You seemed so willing to earlier."

"Sorry, but I'm busy at the moment," he said, stomping his foot, creating three pistons that sent them flying, "Goodbye!" The three fell off the edge of the building into a dumpster below. Amaimon continued on his merry way, leaving them in the dust. By the time they crawled out, they could no longer sense his chi. They began searching the city aimlessly trying to locate it again.

…

Mephisto peered out of his binoculars in the early morning light as he sat above the ruins of Xerxes. His crossed leg kicked in annoyance. He frowned and checked his watch. What was taking Amaimon so long? He sighed. Maybe he should have just done this himself. Then again, he had to keep Astaroth from becoming too suspicious. After a few more minutes he saw a dust cloud appear over the horizon. He smiled as he peered through his binoculars. There he was.

It hadn't taken them long to get out of the city to Edward's surprise. Honestly, it probably took them less than fifteen minutes of traversing back alleys. By the time morning light had returned, he had no idea where they had no idea where they were. The demon was incredibly fast. He was pretty sure they had covered several days of travel in only a few hours. They reached some kind of ruins and Amaimon dropped them in front of the broken stone monuments.

"Ok, you can get up now," Amaimon said.

Edward turned his head, the only thing he could do at the moment and glared at him. "The hell are you talking about?! You paralyzed me, you bastard!" he growled.

"Oh right…" the demon said before kicking him and Rin. Rin yelped as he awoke and Ed cried out as feeling returned to his body with the sharp pain.

He rubbed his sore side and glared at Amaimon as he regained movement. At the same time, Rin had jumped up, gripping Kurikara as he took in his sudden change of surroundings. "Whowhatwhenwhere?"he said as he jumped around trying to figure out where he was. "Why am I in a desert? I was just in the dorms!" he thought aloud.

"It's because I brought you hear," Amaimon said simply. Rin turned around to stare at him.

The boy suddenly growled and pulled the demon slaying sword from its sheath. "YOU!" he shouted, charging at the demon. He held the blade up to Amaimon's neck. "Take us back now, you bastard!" he demanded.

Amaimon simply stared at him, not looking the slightest bit scared. "Ummmm…" he said, "No, I don't think so." He then kicked Rin in the stomach, sending him flying back into a pillar and causing it to crack.

"RIN!" Ed cried, running over to his friend, "Are you alright?" he asked as he helped him up.

Rin groaned but nodded. He glared at Amaimon. "Grrrr….I'm going to kill that bastard!" he snarled.

"Children, please!" A jocular voice announced from above, "Behave yourselves. You know better to pick fights after all." The two teens looked up to see Mephisto sitting above them on the, cross legged. He was wearing sunglasses and sipping some kind of fruity looking beverage as he did so. "Oh wait…"he said lowering them to look down at the pair of boys, "No you don't."

Ed looked confused at the strangely dressed man sitting above them. The voice sounded familiar but he would know if he ever had seen someone like him before in his flashy white outfit. Rin however knew exactly who he was and growled at him. "What the hell Mephisto?!" he snapped, "Why did you have to drag us all the way out to the middle of nowhere, you jerk?!"

"Well you weren't going to come out here on your own," the demon retorted.

Edward blinked. "Wait a minute," he said before turning to Rin and pointing at the demon king, "THAT'S Mephisto?!"

"Indeed!" the demon said before causing his drink to disappear and hopping down to stand face to face with him, "Mephisto Pheles, at your service," he said with a bow, "Though it appears that at the moment, you are at mine."

Ed backed off slightly afraid. "How?!" he demanded, "Your drink! You just made it disappear! How did you do that?!"

"Magic!" Mephisto said with a wink and smirk.

"That's impossible!" Ed said, "There has to be a reasonable explanation. Matter can't be created or destroyed! It had to have gone somewhere! Did you transport it somewhere? Did you disperse it into the molecules in the air? Or-"

Mephisto suddenly doubled over, laughing very loudly. "Oh how hilarious!" he cried, wiping his eyes, "You...You actually think your stupid scientific laws applied to me! That's adorable!"

Edward backed up slightly, blushing in confused embarrassment before speaking again. "The laws of physics apply to the whole universe! Why should you be any different?" he questioned.

Mephisto leaned in with a patronizing smile and placed a hand on Edward's head. "Because, kid," he said, "I'm the demon king of time and space. I can bend the fabric of the universe to my own will with a snap of my fingers. The laws of physics are my bitch." He patted his head twice and stood back up, letting this new information sink in. Ed's eyes widened in horror as his world came crumbling down around him. Matter can be created and destroyed. Granted, only by an exception, but still. How many other rules had an exception? Everything he knew to be absolute truth could now have a loophole to them. Or did they? Did equivalent exchange even exist? He didn't know what to believe anymore.

Ed stood there, frozen for a moment. Rin waved a hand in front of his face, deeply concerned for his friend. "Dude…" he said, "Are you ok?"

"I don't know…"he admitted looking off into the distanced, "I don't know anything anymore." He cradled his head in his hands as he reevaluated everything.

Rin was honestly scared for his friend now. He turned to Mephisto with a growl. "What the hell!" he shouted, "You broke his brain!"

Mephisto shrugged. "He had to face reality sooner or later," he said before turning around with a swing of his umbrella, "Now, let me show you why you are here." Scowling, Rin tugged the still distraught Ed along as Mephisto lead them to a small campsite in the center of the ruins. Several small tents, and one giant one with a large gold M on it sat in a circle with a small fire pit in the center. Rin gave a confused look. Mephisto held up a finger before pulling out an air horn from his coat. He pressed the button on top and the two boys had to cover their ears as the horn blared. There were several yelps and swear words that came from the tents as it went off. "Rise and shine, children!" Mephisto called cheerily, "You have five minutes to get out here. No need to change yet, so long as you're modest."

There were collective groans as five sleepy teens crawled out of there tents. There was a short girl with blonde hair, another girl with purple hair, a bald boy with glasses, A tall boy with pink hair, and a tall, tan boy with yellow and brown hair.

"Shesh, Mr. Pheles…" the boy with pink hair yawned, "Do we really have to be up this early? The sun is barely awake…"

"My question is why the air horn was necessary," the brown and yellow haired boy complained, "What are you trying to do? Make us go deaf?"

"Besides," the purple haired girl said, clearly annoyed, "We spent half the night just trying to get these stupid tents set up. Can't we just sleep for a few more hours? What the heck is so important that we have to get up this early?"

"What's so important?" Mephisto said, "Why I believe the mission to pass your exorcist exam is!" He gestured to Rin and Edward.

The strange teens looked as confused as Edward and Rin. "Um...Sir?" the boy with glasses asked, "Who are these people? And how do they relate to our exam?"

"These two are Major Edward Elric and Major Rin Mustang of the Amestrian military," he explained surprising the kids, "You will be protecting them as well as helping them rid this world of dangerous demons."


	31. At the length truth will out

The previous night—just after attack)

When Roy and his mean had shown up on the scene, the whole place was a disaster. The group stared at it in shock. "Jeez," Jean said with a whistle, "It looks like a tornado with teeth came through here…" That was an understatement. There were holes in the wall everywhere. Broken furniture lined the halls and there were places in the floor where it looks like something exploded out of the ground...even on the fourth floor.

"I think it's safe to say one of those monsters did this..." Riza said in a hushed tone as she examined a stalagmite pushing up from the ground. Hughes and Roy shared a look. It was possible that one of the homunculi did this….but it didn't make sense. Why would they attack in broad daylight? That didn't seem to be their style. It would have made more sense for them to kidnap the two in their sleep. Which means there was one logical option: demon. And that deeply frightened Roy. He knew that for whatever reason, the homunculi wanted Rin and Edward alive. For now at least. But there was no telling what some random demon wanted with them for… Hughes placed a hand assuredly on his shoulder, giving him an empathetic look. He felt the same way. The boys, both the Elrics and Roy's sons, were like his own to him. He honestly wanted nothing more than to put a few holes in whoever thought it was a good idea to kidnap them.

"Mustang!" Lieutenant Ross called, "I'm so sorry, but-"

"I know…" he growled. His fists shook and the woman backed off slightly as she saw this. His son was god knows where. Right now he could be dead for all he knew.

"Sir…" Maria said, "It's going to be alright. We'll find him." Roy didn't respond. Maria frowned before continuing. "We already have several witness reports," she said, "Including one from Major Armstrong, myself, Denny, Winry, and Alphonse. We'll have a sketch of the perpetrator done soon enough, and then we can start searching."

Roy didn't look up until her heard they had a report from Alphonse. Alphonse was the only one who actually knew about demons. Maybe he could give them better insight as to what they were dealing with.

He turned on Maria "Bring me Alphonse Elric as soon as possible," he demanded.

….

Alphonse sat uncomfortably in the hallway with Winry beside him. She lied beside him with a shock blanket draped around her shoulders. Alphonse had refused to speak to anyone since this had all transpired. His brother was gone. Gone! He had been completely unable to do anything to stop that monster from taking him. He had heard nothing from the xingese travelers and now he was worried. What had happened? Had the demon just disappeared? Was his brother still alive? Were the Xingese travelers alive? He had no idea and he was terrified.

"Alphonse," Roy said, "We need to talk to you." He turned to see Hughes and Roy walking up to him. "It's about your brother, we need to know what happened," he said. Winry opened her mouth to speak when Roy cut her off. "We need to speak to Alphonse alone," he said.

She frowned at them. "What? You think I can't give an accurate account?" she said sitting up.

"It's nothing against you, Winry," Maes said, feeling bad for the girl, "We just have something we need to discuss with him."

"What? You can't tell me?!"she cried, tears starting to flow again. "Is this how it is with all of you military types? You just keep secrets every when it can hurt someone?"she snapped, "Edward could be dead right now, and I don't even know what he got himself into to get this way!"

Roy kept his indifferent stare, although inside he did feel guilty. He could only imagine what kind of pain this girl was in. Hughes on the other hand felt outwardly guilty. "Winry, it's alright," he assured, "Edward's going to be fine, I promise."

"Then why can't you tell me what's going on?!" she questioned.

Hughes fell silent. He wished he could tell her what was going on and make her feel better. But he knew deep down it would only make her feel worse.

"Winry…" Alphonse spoke up, "Please calm down. I promised I'd explain everything, and I will." "But I need to speak to them first, alright?"he said. He knew why hughes and mustang had wanted to speak to him. They wanted the only truly accurate account of what had happened. After all, he was the only one with a temptaint to have seen the demon. If they had any chance of finding Edward, they needed his account.

Winry frowned before nodding.

Alphonse got up and followed them. They sat him down in a room and sat across from him. "So," Maes said, clicking a pen, "Let's start from the beginning."

Alphonse looked down for a moment, preparing himself for what he was about to say. He had been silent for the past hour. Now everything just spilled out. Maes and Roy listened intently. They hung on every word until Al mentioned one thing.

"Did you say 'demon king'?" Roy questioned, fear in his eyes. Maes dropped his pen at that point.

"Yes," Alphonse said, "He said he was Mephisto's brother and that Brother owed him some sort of favor."

Maes and Roy suddenly felt a strange mix of confusion, relief, and anger. "You're kidding me," Roy growled. He covered his face with his hands. Of course it was him. Of course he was orchestrating all of this. Roy snarled. He was going to kill that demon. Hughes was equally furious, but at the same time, fearful. Mephisto said he owed him a favor. He'd hate to see what would happen when he came to collect. "What sort of favor did he want Ed for? What deal did he make?" Roy asked.

"And why take Rin?" Hughes said.

"I don't know…"Alphonse said, "All he said was that he needed them. As for what deal Brother made, he said something about trying to get knowledge on how to fix me, but I don't know for sure."

Roy had a grim expression. This was bad. He had read about how demon deals went, and knew that the cost for something seemingly small could be as much as a human soul. While he doubted that's what Edward had to give up, he still worried. The worst part was there was nothing we could do about it. At least he could assure himself that Rin wasn't going to get hurt. He was probably just being used as a bartering chip to make sure Ed went through with whatever that demon wanted.

"Thank you, Alphonse," he said, "You may go if you like."

The suit of armor nodded before standing up to go. He headed out the door and walked up to where Winry was sitting. She was still crouched on the floor with the blanket. He stood there for a moment, nervous. He didn't know what to say...but he had to tell her the truth. Or at least some of it. She didn't need to know about Rin, but she deserved to at least know about the creatures that had attacked them. He stood up straight and steeled himself before approaching her. "Winry?"he said. The girl looked up at him. "I'm really sorry about keeping secrets from you. I-if you want to know about what's been going on, I'll be willing to tell you," he said. Winry nodded and took his hand. They entered the dorm where he, Ed, and Rin had been previously staying and began telling her everything he knew about demons.

….

Mustang and Hughes sat alone, contemplating this new information. At least they knew the boys weren't dead, but they had no idea how to get them back now. Mephisto could have taken Ed back to Assiah for all they knew and for how long this would go on, they didn't know.

However, that was not the worst part. The worst part was how the heck they were going to have to come up with an excuse not to go looking for them. They couldn't just brush off that they didn't have any leads. While it was true they didn't Roy's men knew how much the two cared for the boys. It was no secret to anyone that Roy would sacrifice life and limb for either of his sons, but the men did know how the Colonel truly felt about Edward. While he did not look at the Elrics the same way as he did his own children, he did care for them deeply and consider Edward particularly like a younger brother. A very annoying, arrogant, and defiant younger brother...so yeah a younger brother.

In anycase, they knew that he would not simply give up on searching for them. If he couldn't find leads in the office he would go out and search for them in every nook and cranny if he thought the boys were in any danger. And if he didn't, the men would know something was up, and he had even less of an idea of how to explain the situation to them without looking insane. Even hughes agreed it would be hard to convince them that there were demons all around them without them having temptants of their own.

They had trying to toss ideas back and forth for an explanation, but had come up with nothing. All of a sudden, Maria entered the room. "Sir, we need your help," she said, "There are these strange people who broke into the crime scene and are refusing to leave until they speak to someone who knows Rin personally, and Alphonse is busy."

Roy raised an eyebrow before sighing. He headed downstairs to see what they wanted.

He saw three people in the lobby, looking very irritated. One was an old man, another was a young girl, and a third was a boy who looked to be about Rin's age. As he got close his nose scrunched up as he noticed they smelled like compost. "Alright, who are you and what do you want?" Roy demanded.

They turned to him slightly confused. "You are close to Rin?"the girl asked.

"I am Colonel Mustang, his father. You can't get much closer to him than that," he said still glaring at them.

Ling and the others looked at this man in confusion. His chi was completely normal, like anyone else in the room. Then again, Yukio was completely normal, so maybe that's where he got that from. "I need to speak with you sir," he said, "I want to explain what happened here."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "I think you can clearly see what happened here," he said, "Someone broke into military facilities and kidnapped two teenagers."

"No!" He hissed, stepping up to him, "I mean what really happened. I saw that...thing, and whatever it was, it wasn't human."

Roy narrowed his eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about," he said, "What else could the man have been besides human?"

"Don't play dumb!" he said quietly, " I saw it contort the ground beneath our feet! I could sense his chi! That thing couldn't have been human, and I want to know what it is. I was promised I'd be told."

"And how do you suppose I know," he questioned, "Because according to Alphonse, it was after his brother."

"Because Rin had a similar chi," Ling whispered. This made Roy's eyes widen. So these were the people Rin had been talking about. Roy mulled over the idea in his head. He supposed the cat was out of the bag, but he didn't want this random stranger finding out too much.

"Come with me," he said in a low voice.

….

Ling sat down in a room in front of a table, his two servants on either side of him. Roy sat at a table across from him. The door was locked and there was a man with black hair and glasses blocking it. "So what exactly is it you want to know?" Roy questioned.

Ling was silent for a moment before speaking. "The being called himself a demon king," he said, "What exactly is that?"

"What it sound like, a king of demons," Roy responded.

"I figured that," the boy said, crossing his arms, "But I want to know what exactly demons are. In my culture they are fictional trickster figures that toy with humanity."

"Well you're partially right," Roy grunted, "They still toy with humanity, but here they're very much real." "Demons here are from another plane of existence, somewhere between the living and dead. They have many powers, and some possess the forms of different things, from objects to people. Many can't see them or sense their presence, so few know of their existence."

All three of them looked worried by that. "Is Rin possessed then?" Lan Fan asked, "Why does he have the chi of one of those things?"

Roy's hand folded into a fist. "He is not possessed!" he snapped at her.

"Don't snap at my granddaughter!" Fu warned, brow knitting together.

"If he isn't possessed, then what is he?" Ling asked.

Roy paused for a moment, mulling over how much to actually tell them. "He has demon blood from their father's side," he explained carefully, "I am not their biological father. I adopted them when they were seven from a friend. They do not enjoy discussing their roots and neither do I, so that's all you get to know. If you want anything more, you have to ask them yourself." "But if you speak of this to one soul," Roy snarled leaning across the table to look Ling dead in the eyes, "If you say anything you heard here to anyone who may come after my sons or use this information against them in any way, I will not hesitate to make you into a bonfire."

Lan Fan's eyes widened as she moved a hand to her belt where her knives were. "If you tried to hurt him-" she started but was cut off by her grandfather.

"Lan Fan, stop," he said, "I assure you, sir, the threat is not necessary. We will not use this information to harm your children." Demon children or not, Fu could still sympathize with the man's worries. He had been a father to several children, and a grandfather to more. He knew that if he were in the situation Roy was in, he would have not hesitated to make a similar threat and would have been more than willing to go through with it.

"I appreciate that sir, I don't need your word," Roy said, "I want his." He gestured to the young prince.

"You have my word," Ling said solemnly.

…

Winry didn't know what to say as she finished listening to Al. It was hard to swallow. Extremely hard knowing that something from beyond their world existed or that those things lived so close to her house. "And Rin and Yukio told you about these things…" She said.

"We've seen them with our own eyes, Winry," he admitted, "We had to fight a three headed dog and these shadow creatures in Dublith, and in Lab 5 another one like Amaimon tried to capture Rin."

Winry covered her mouth with her hand. She let out a small cry. She didn't know what to say. To think that one of those things was the reason why Rin had been hurt so bad by one of those things…and now Rin and Edward were in the clutches of another one. Al felt his heart break at that. "I'm sorry Winry!" he said, looking down, "I shouldn't have told you…"

"No!" she snapped, "Don't tell me that!" "I needed to know this…" She said, "It doesn't matter if it makes me sad. I'd rather be sad than be left in the dark again…Don't ever apologize for telling me!"

Al looked up in confusion. "But it hurt you!" He said, "I hate seeing you hurt…"

"Then if you want to see me happy," she said, "Go help Mustang and the others and find them." Al stared at her for a moment before nodding.

….

(present time)

Edward and Rin stared at the teenagers in surprise. The teenagers stared back at them equally surprised. "You're serious?" the yellow and brown hair boy said, "These two are majors in the military? How is that possible? They look no older than us!"

"Excuse me, but how are you exorcists?" Rin responded, raising an eyebrow, "You're no older than us."

The brown and yellow haired boy gave him a confused look. "Actually, Sir," the boy with glasses said, "We're exwires: exorcists in training. We haven't passed our exams yet."

"Oh…" Rin said.

"They are indeed part of the military," Mephisto explained, "But they aren't regular soldiers. They joined through the state alchemist program about three years ago." "As for my students," Mephisto said, "They are part of the cram school at true cross academy where they study to one day become exorcists in Assiah."

While Ed and Rin nodded in understanding, the teenagers looked confused. "State...alchemist?" the blonde girl said, furrowing her brow, "Um...excuse me...but what's an alchemist?"

Ed blinked in surprise. He turned to Rin. "They didn't have alchemy in your world?" he questioned.

"Nope!" Rin said with a popping noise as he shook his head no, "Just plain chemistry."

Edward's jaw became slightly slack, completely baffled by the idea of no alchemy. How does that even work? He could hardly imagine what that world must be like. How far behind was civilization? Did they have cars yet? Or telephones? Had they at least reached the industrial revolution? Rin claimed they had electricity so they probably did, but for all he knew, without alchemy they could be living in a backwards, feudal society. Did they even have advanced medicine? He shook his head. He couldn't think about this too much. He'd throw himself in a tizzy like before if he kept thinking about it.

"Well, an alchemist is someone who can transmute matter into other forms using energy from the tectonic plates," Ed explained before clapping his hands together and placing them on the ground. Electric blue light extended forth from his hands as he did so. They teens gasped and took several steps back as they watched Edward pull a halberd out of the sandstone. He swung it around his head before standing it at his side, hitting the blunt end against the stone.

"Woah…." The tan boy breathed.

"That's incredible!" the short, bald boy gasped.

"Aw man!" the pink haired teen said clenching his fists as he looked on in awe, "I gotta learn how to do that.

"Um...Major Mustang, Sir?" the blonde haired girl asked, "Can all state alchemists do that?"

Rin smiled. "Nah! Ed's a special case," he said, "Every state alchemist has their specialty. He's the Fullmetal alchemist because he mostly works with metals. Meanwhile, I'm the Spitfire alchemist because my specialty is fire."

The teens looked impressed by this. "You can make fire?" the pink haired one exclaimed, "That's totally wicked!"

"Yeah, I'm Rin by the way, and this is Edward," he gestured to the blond next to him.

"Nice to meet you!" the pink haired boy said taking his hand and shaking it, "I'm Renzo Shima, but you can just call me Shima. The tall grumpy guy is Ryuji Suguro, but we call him Bon. The guy with the glasses is Konekomaru Miwa, the girl with the temper and small eyebrows is Izumo Kamiki, and last but not least, the blonde one is Shiemi Moriyama."

Bon rolled his eyes while Shiemi and Konikomaru bowed slightly. Izumo smacked Shima upside the head. "Stop saying I have small eyebrows! I do not have small eyebrows!" she snapped.

"Fine! Fine!" Shima chuckled. "Anyways, mind showing us that flame alchemy you promised earlier?" he asked.

"Sure!" he said, "Watch this, so my gloves have this array on them right? This baby lets me condense the oxygen in the air to any shape. And they are also made of a special material called ignition cloth, so when I snap my fingers…" He did just so, creating a spark. Blue flames in the shape of his initials formed above his head. The teenagers gasped and took several steps back.

Rin smirked and rubbed his fist against his shirt. "Pretty awesome, right?" he said, "I've been working on that one for weeks!" He finally looked up to see them all looking at him with mixed expressions of fear and anger. "What?" he questioned.

"Those were blue flames!" Bon hissed, "The mark of Satan!"

Rin's eyes widened and he gulped while Ed face palmed. He had forgotten that these people would obviously recognize satanic flames. He had to say something! He couldn't let them think that he was Satan or his son.

"Now calm down, guys!" Shima said, "It's probably not that! There's got to be another explanation. These guys are scientists, right?"

"Yeah," Konekomaru added, "This is a different world after all. It's probably no what we think!"

Both boys breathed a sigh of relief...that is until Mephisto spoke up. "Oh, it's exactly what you think!" he said, "Rin and his brother Yukio are actually the spawn of Satan."

The teens backed up in horror as Rin and Ed turned on the demon king.

"What the hell?!" Rin cried, "Are you trying to get me killed?!"

"Yeah!" Ed responded, "How are they supposed to trust us now if they think Rin's evil?!"

"Well, honesty spawns trust," Mephisto said with a shrug, and not really focusing on them as he glanced at his watch, "Besides, would you really want them not find out now and be able to get over it and have them then find pot after months of dramatic tension at the worst possible moment and play a game of chance of whether they'll continue to help you or go off on an angsty tirade of being lied to? No thanks. I hate liar revealed plots so let's just get the reveals out of the way for now." "Besides, if you were charged with protecting something or someone, wouldn't you want to know what you were getting into?" he continued. Ed frowned. He did have a point with that last one.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which," Bon spoke up, "WHAT THE HELL MAN?!" "YOU'RE HAVING US PROTECT THE SPAWN OF SATAN?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" he shouted, "WE'RE EXORCISTS! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING THE FORCES OF SATAN, AND YOU WANT US TO PROTECT HIS KID?!" Bon was down right furious. His whole goal in life was to defeat Satan. That's why he came to True Cross! But now he was being asked to defend him?! What kind of madness was this?!

"Hey! Just because I'm his son doesn't mean I'm in league with him!" Rin snapped.

Bon rolled his eyes. "Sure," he said, "And Gandhi liked his steak rare. Like I'll believe anything you spew, monster!"

Rin growled and Ed frowned. "Don't call my friend that!" the short blond said, "He's not a monster! He's as person just like you or me!"

"Not a monster?!" Konekomaru repeated in shock, "He's the child of the most evil being in the entire universe! Did you not see those blue flames?! How are you not terrified?!" His words stung Rin and the fear in the boy's eye hurt just as much. He felt himself back of slightly in defense. The terrified and angry looks in all their eyes made him feel like a cornered animal.

"Because I know Rin and he would never use those flames to hurt anyone!" Ed snapped, getting in the boy's face, "Well, unless they attacked first…"

"That's it!" Bon announced, marching up to Mephisto, "I'm not putting up with this shit! You can't make me! Now take me home!"

"Sorry, but you aren't allowed to leave yet, Mr. Suguro," Mephisto said with a devilish smirk. He pulled out a scroll from inside his coat. "According to this permission form/liability waver you all signed, none of you are allowed to leave until your mission is complete," he said, showing it Suguro. All the kids looked shocked and/or horrified. Even Rin and Edward gave Mephisto surprised and upset looks.

"WHAT?!" Izumo cried, "Y-you can't be serious!"

"He's serious alright," Bon hissed crinkling the paper, "It's all right here in pen and ink…"

"This isn't fair!" she responded, "He can't do this to us! I didn't read anything like that before!"

"Try reading the fine print, sweetheart," Mephisto said with a smirk, "And by the way, don't bother trying to tear this up, I have plenty more copies."

The teens exchanged wary glances. "...Um, Sir?" Shiemi questioned, raising her hand, "What if...What if we fail? Are we just going to be left here?!"

"What?!" Shima cried, "I don't want to be left here all alone!" The other teens started arguing. Rin and Ed backed up slightly; worried they might turn their anger and anxiety onto them.

"No one is going to be left behind!" a female voice announced. Everyone turned to where the source was. Ed's jaw dropped and he turned a very deep shade of red as he realized what or who he was looking at. It was a young woman with long hair dyed to look like flames. She had a sword resting on her shoulder and a green scarf around her neck. Her eyes were tired but stern. However, the most noticeable feature about her was her...*ahem* less than modest choice in clothing. Aside from a black coat barely hanging on her shoulders, she was clad only in a bikini top and a mini skirt Ed swore was something that legmen like Roy would die if they saw a woman in. Edward had never seen a woman like this. Winry may wear tube tops in private, but it was still in private! And she always wore something that covered her legs fairly well. He quickly averted his eyes in an attempt to show respect for her. Meanwhile, Rin continued to keep his eyes locked on her, though he was less affected.

The woman didn't seem to notice as she continued speaking. "You will return home once this is over, but if you fail to protect them, you will be expelled from True Cross," she stated, "And if you even think about telling anyone about going to another universe or what you saw in this universe, particularly Rin and Yukio, you will have to answer to me."

"Yes Ma'am!" Shieme, Konekomaru, and Shima responded quickly. Izumo looked away and nodded. Bon took the longest to respond, glaring at Rin before sighing and grumbling an affirmation.

"Good," she said before turning to the boys. "Are you two al-" she started before she noticed Edward's reaction, "...Ok, what's his deal?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," he said, "I mean no disrespect, but can you put some more clothes on? You're in your underwear!"

The woman blinked. "Underwear? What are you talking about?" she said, giving him an odd look, "These are just my clothes."

Ed turned to her in shock. "WHAT?!" he shrieked, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" He then turned to Rin. "Do women from your world really traipse around in stuff like that?!"

"Well...not usually," Rin responded scratching the back of his head, "I mean it was pretty common for women to be dress like that in manga, the comic books I read when I was little."

"Comic books?!" Ed hissed in surprise, "Are you sure you weren't reading porn?!"

The woman raised an eyebrow before turning to Mephisto. "Remind me again, what year is it in this universe?" she asked.

"1914," he stated.

She sighed. "Well that explains that," she muttered before closing her jacket and walking up to the boys. "Hey, you two," she said, " I wanna talk to you." They stopped their arguing and turned towards her. She extended her hand. "My name is Shura Kirigakure. I'm an Upper-First class Exorcist, under the meister of knight. It's a pleasure to meet you." She shook their hands. "I used to be a disciple of Fujimoto before he was arrested. He told me a lot about you and your brother, Rin. It's nice to finally meet you," she explained, "Good to meet you too Edward. I've heard a little about you in the debriefing I had prior to this. I'm sure I'll enjoy working with you."

The two blinked in surprise. "Wait, you said you were a disciple…" Rin said, "Does that make you a nun?"

Ed wanted to laugh at that. Never would he think he'd run into a nun that dressed like that. Granted, he didn't think he'd ever run into anyone who dressed like that. "Nah," she said, "Just an Exorcist. Never took any vows. But I did take up a position at True Cross as a teacher."

"A teacher?" Ed thought, slightly surprised. She didn't look like the teaching type. With her supposed rank, he was sure she was qualified enough, but she looked and spoke more like a rebellious teenager, particularly with her hair dyed like that. Then again, his teacher wasn't exactly a conventional one either. He wondered if the two would get along…

"Indeed," Mephisto said, "Now, onto your favor…" "I need you to get this bunch back to Central and inform Mustang of the situation as well as educate them about your world. To anyone else, say they were travelers from another country that saved you from Amaimon or something," he explained.

Ed blinked in surprise. "That's all?" he said, "You kidnapped us and dragged us out here just so we can play tour guide? Why didn't you just have your brother explain that?!"

"Let's just say for now the walls have ears…" Mephisto noted crypticly, "Besides it's not 'we' it's just you." "Rin's going to get a short cut so he can keep his father from sending an entire legion after him or whatever," he explained.

"Why can't we all take the shortcut?" Ed questioned.

"I'm afraid it's only a one-seater," Mephisto said quickly and vaguely as he glanced at his watch. Ed opened his mouth to question him but Mephisto cut him off. "No time for explanations!" he said as he got a better look at his watch. He only had ten minutes left before Truth tanned his hide over letting his brother stay in this universe too long. The humans had been easy to barter for, but letting another demon king through took a lot more...difficult negotiations. Let's just say breaking a deal with Truth was not something he could do twice. "I'll just show you!" He said as he swished his umbrella in the air, "Cake Cuckoo Clock!"

Suddenly, a large floating cuckoo clock made of candy appeared above Rin. Everyone's eyes widened, aside from Shura and the demon brothers, and Ed fell backwards, sputtering like an idiot. "How the-What the-" he said in between breaths.

Then, a giant pink bird popped out and grabbed Rin in his beak. "What the?!" He shouted, "No let go!"

"RIN!" Ed shouted, trying to reach for him. However, it was too late.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Rin shouted, flailing as the mechanical bird dragged him back into the clock. It then disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

"NO!" Ed shouted as he ran over to where the clock had been. "RIn?! RIN!" he shouted, in a panic as he mildly searched for his friend. His brain couldn't comprehend what had just happened. He was gone. He was just gone! He turned to Mephisto, rage in his eyes. "What was that?!" he demanded, "Was that some kind of weird demon gate?! Where did it go?!"

"He's fine, he's probably only a few miles outside of Central right now," Mephisto said, much more concerned with the time at the moment. "Now I must bid you all adieu. Come along Amaimon," he said as he grabbed his brother by his jacket collar and dragged him over to the nearest door.

"I get to roam Assiah as much as I want for five months now, right big brother?" Amaimon questioned. Considerably less concerned.

"Yes, yes! Now stop dragging your feet or you won't have any!" Mephisto snapped as he opened the door with a special key, revealing a white void. He shoved the other Demon King through. He was about to step through himself as Ed spoke up.

"Wait a minute!" He cried, "How the hell am I supposed to get them out of here?! It's a two day walk to the nearest civilization and I've got no supplies!"

Mephisto huffed in annoyance and glared at him. " Fine!" He growled, snapping his fingers. A map and compass appeared in Edward's hands. Then a shadow fell over him. He looked up and yelped as he saw a vehicle about to fall on his head. He leapt out of the way as the canvas back military truck fell on the sandy ground. Everyone besides the demons took a step back, startled. He clutched his chest as he stared at it dumbly. "There you go!" Mephisto said before turning back to the door, "Good luck and good riddance!" With that, he slammed the door behind him.

There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke again. "So…." Shima said, "What do we do now?"

Shura held a hand up to her face and glanced at the sun. "Well we should probably get dressed and get packing," she said, "this is the desert after all. It's not going to stay cool forever."

…

Old man Gregory yawned as he went about his morning as usual. He had gotten up early was working in his field on his tractor, just like any other morning. It had been this way for over twenty years and it will probably stay the same for many more to come. He stopped about halfway through plowing like usual to light up his morning cigarette. He spent half a minute smoking when all of a sudden something appeared out of the corner of his eye. He turned out of curiosity and nearly fell out of his seat as he saw what appeared to be a giant cuckoo clock made of cake and candies appear out of nowhere.

He blinked in surprise, rubbing his eyes. However, the cake clock was still there. It was just floating there. Then, just when things seemed like they couldn't get any weirder, the doors opened up and a teenage boy was thrown out, holding a sword in one of his hands. The clock only disappeared when the boy got up, grumbling as he dusted himself off. He glanced around at his surroundings before noticing the farmer.

"Uh…." the boy who was possibly only a hallucination started awkwardly, "Do you know which direction the next town is?" Gregory's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shakily pointed north. The boy smiled. "Thanks!" he called before heading off in that direction as if nothing happened.

Gregory watched him walk away before pulling out his box of cigarettes and taking a long, hard look at it. Maybe it was time he switched brands. He thought the nicotine tasted funny in this pack...


	32. to buy a world of happy days

"What?!" Yukio cried, "They were kidnapped by a demon king?!" When Roy had not returned home that night when Yukio came home, he became worried. He had called his father's office, but he wasn't there. It wasn't until the next day at work that Yukio found out what had happened. "Who took them?" Yukio desperately asked his father, "Was it Astaroth?"

"No," Roy said, "It was one named Amaimon, the king of Earth."

"Amaimon?" He questioned, "Who is that? And what does he want with Rin and Edward?"

"He didn't want anything to do with Rin or Fullmetal," Roy said, "He was apparently getting them for Mephisto. Edward owed them a favor."

"Edward?" Yukio said in confusion before realization dawned on him. He facepalmed and moaned. "Oh no….this is my fault…." He groaned as his hand slid down his face.

"What are you talking about?" Roy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was the one who got him into contact with Mephisto," Yukio admitted.

"WHAT?!" Roy roared, "What the hell?! Why would you do that?!"

"I'm sorry! It was right after they discovered what the philosopher's stone was made of and we were all feeling really desperate. Then Mephisto showed up and mention he knew a way of getting Al a new body without human transmutation!" Yukio responded.

Roy blinked. "Well did he?" he questioned.

"Yes, but it was equally bad for entirely different reasons," he responded, running his hands through his hair, "But Mephisto said it wouldn't be dangerous, just inconvenient."

"And you trusted him?!" Roy snapped.

"He'd been trustworthy thus far!" Yukio argued weakly, "Look, I really am sorry. I was stupid and just wanted to do anything I could to give Ed and Al other options besides using another human being to get Alphonse back to normal."

"I understand but look at the mess we've got now!" Roy said, "Even if the boys are ok, we have no idea where they are or what they-"

All of a sudden, the office phone started ringing. Yukio went to pick it up. "Hello?" he spoke into the receiver.

"Hey, Yukio," Rin's voice came out of the speaker.

Yukio's eyes widened. "Rin?!" He cried. Roy's eyes widened as well.

"Yeah, sorry if I worried you guys," he said.

"Is he alright? Is Fullmetal with him?" Roy asked.

"Rin, are you alright? Where are you?" Yukio asked, "Where's Ed?"

"I'm fine, I'm in a small town about a little ways away from Central," he said, "Ed's not with me, but he'll becoming back to Central shortly."

"Where is he?" Yukio asked.

"He's at the ruins of Xerxes finishing up his favor for Mephisto," he said, "The guy brought a bunch of exorcists to help with the current demon problem and Ed is acting like a tour guide."

Yukio and Roy both gave a sigh of relief. "Well at least he's not in any danger…" Roy said, he then took the phone, "Rin, do you have a way back or do you need us to come get you from where you are?"

The train whistled as it entered the station. The people slowly began to pile on. There would be a good fifteen minutes before it actually left though. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "The town I'm in has a train station, so you don't have to worry about that."

"That's good to hear," Roy said, "When will you be getting on one?"

"I'll be getting on the very next one actually," Rin said as he watched the crowd thin. There was still a bit of a crowd around the ticket booth. He crooked an eyebrow as he watched four people in cloaks walk up to the ticket booth. Well, all except one of them. There was a little girl who had what appeared to be a stuffed panda with her. There was something strange about them. The girl was looking around as if worried about something. One of them pulled down his hood and Rin's eyes widened as he saw it was Dolcetto. He was still alive?! Rin continued to watch him curiously. The dog chimera began sniffing the air. Another man turned to him, and Rin froze as he could just vaguely make out the face under the hood: Scar.

"Rin? Rin!" Roy called through the receiver, snapping him out of it, "Rin are you alright?"

"Uh….yeah…" he said, "Look, I've got to go." Dolcetto suddenly turned to look in his direction. Rin nearly yelped in fear.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Roy asked.

"Yeah!" he said, "Trains about to leave. Gotta go. Love you. Bye!" He then hung up the phone and began to run as fast as he could away to find a place to hide.

The four miss-fit traveler walked into the station after Dolcetto having successfully pickpocketed enough to buy them each tickets. As they walked up to the station, Mei Chang suddenly felt a chill run up her spine and an overwhelming presence near by. It felt like there was a tornado about to hit the station. She looked around wildly for the source but could find nothing out of the ordinary.

Yoki noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter, child?" He questioned, "Surely you aren't scared of the trains are you?"

"No, I've been on a train before," she said, "It's something else! There's something evil in this station…"

"What are you talking about?" Yoki said furrowing his brow, "This is just a normal train station!"

"No…" Dolcetto said pulling down His hood and sniffing the air, "She's right. I can smell cat hair, sulfur, ash, and a spice cabinet. That monster's here."

Scar turned to him in surprise. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I never forget a scent," he said as he tried to scan the crowd for him.

"Monster?" Mei asked, "What monster are you talking about?"

"An immortal creature of pure evil that disguises himself as a young boy," Scar growled, "He goes by an alias else where but his true name is Shaitan."

Mei's eyes widened. "What?!" she cried, "an immortal monster?!"

"Yeah," Dolcetto said darkly, "He killed a lot of people a long time ago, but now he's back and we have to stop him before he does so again." Dolcetto's eyes widened as he spotted the boy in a phone booth. "There he is!" he cried as the boy began to run.

"After him!" Scar called, following the chimera. Mei Chang ran after them.

Yoki stood there, utterly confused as what to do.

"Wait!" He cried, "What about our train tickets! Dolcetto! At least give me the money!" He ran to catch up with them.

….

They finished packing up their tents just as the heat started to become intense. "You guys got everything?" Ed said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"All set!" Shima said, putting the last of the supplies in the truck. He turned to him before blinking in surprise and smirking. "You ok? Looking a little pink there, buddy!" he said chuckling.

Ed blinked before sighing. He should have expected to get a sunburn here. His brow then furrowed. "Hey, why aren't you sun burnt?" he questioned.

"Cause we have sunscreen, duh," Izumi responded as she hopped in the back of the truck.

Edward blinked. "Sun screen?" he questioned in confusion. What were they talking about. He saw no screens.

All of a sudden he heard a shaking and then a spraying noise before a cold and wet hand smelling strongly of chemicals was shoved in his face. "GAH!" he cried, trying to swat the hand away as it rubbed into his skin, "What are you doing?! Quit it!"

"Keeping you from burning to a crisp," Shura said removing her hand to spray more on it, "But if you'd rather apply you own, then be my guest." She then tossed him the spray bottle of sunscreen.

He looked at it in confusion as he attempted to identify the contents. The label was written in some language he couldn't understand but there was a picture of a sun and a beach on it, as well as a large "50" on it. "Is this sunscreen?" He questioned.

"Yup," she responded, "SPF 50. You spray it on yourself and rub it into your skin to protect yourself from sunburn. But don't get it into your eyes." Ed nodded, looking at it curiously before pulling off the glove of his flesh hand and mimicking her motion of spraying into it before rubbing his face. "Be sure to get your neck and ears," she warned turning back to the truck, "Those can burn easily without you knowing."

"Thanks," he said, handing it back to her.

She raised an eyebrow as she turned from taking inventory in the back of the truck. "You're already done?" She questioned, "Heh...I guess you don't need much because you have everything besides your face covered."

"Yeah…" Bon said curiously, "Why is that? Aren't you hot in that coat and those gloves?"

Ed blanched. It was true he was, but he couldn't take off his coat or they would see his automail. He didn't feel like having to explain himself to a bunch of strangers. "Well…"he started.

"Hey, has anyone seen Shiemi?" Shura suddenly announced, distracting the other teens. Everyone looked around. Where was she? The blonde was nowhere to be seen. "Come on Ed," she said, "Let's go find her so we can head out." She grabbed the blond boy by the wrist and pulled him away.

Edward was slightly confused. Was he just really lucky she had noticed Shiemi's disappearance, or did she know about his situation? Once they were a good distance away, Shura spoke up. "Don't worry," she said, "While I doubt they would question too much if they found out about the real reason why you're called Fullmetal, for now you're secret's safe with me."

Ed blinked. "How did you know that?" he questioned, "Who told you?"

"Who do you think, Einstein? The clown himself," she said as they continued along, "He debriefed me on quite a bit, including what happened to you and your brother."

Edward froze. "How much did he tell you?" He demanded, getting angrier, "How much did he know?"

"All of it," she said sympathetically, "Sorry, but he was pretty damn thorough. How he knew about your mother, I don't know." Ed growled. He was going punch that guy in the face the next time he saw him. "While I'm not about to through some huge pity party for you, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not about to judge you over what happened," she said, "People do stupid shit all the time when they are having trouble accepting something. Sometimes it's blaming others, sometimes it's closing themselves off, sometimes it means making a deal with a demon, and so on."

Edward frowned. "You couldn't help yourself from making that jab, could you?" he asked.

"I wasn't making a jab at you, it's more common than you think," she said, "Not everyone goes ahead and makes one with a demon king, however. Sometimes demons are just drawn to people who are in despair and don't know any better and take advantage of them. Roughly a year ago I had to save a girl from one she thought was a garden fairy, and I've had plenty more similar cases before that. The only reason I haven't done more exorcisms like that is because this teaching gig keeps me tied down to the the academy town."

Ed blinked in surprise. "Really?" he said, "Is it really that common?"

"Well, I wouldn't say common, but it happens often enough for me to get a decent salary," she said with a shrug, "In a perfect world, we wouldn't need exorcists, but we don't live in a perfect world. Humans don't like to let go or move on. Demons capitalize on that. It happens. We just gotta figure out a way to handle that."

Ed couldn't help but feel a sort of weight lift from his shoulders. While he would never be able to truly forgive himself for what happened to his brother so long as he was still in the suit, it make the weight easier to bare knowing that he wasn't the only idiot out there who couldn't let things go so easily.

"Hey, there she is!" Shura said, snapping him out of thought. She pointed up ahead to where she was coming out of an area of the ruins. "What were you doing all the way out here, kid? We almost left without you!" Shura said.

"Oh! I'm sorry Miss Kirigakure!" She said, running over to them as fast as she could.

"Will you please stop calling me that?" Shura groaned, "It's just 'Shura,' alright? You can even say 'Miss Shura' or 'Ma'am'. Calling me by my last name either makes me feel like the student or some stuck up old biddie, and I'm not sure which is worse."

"Sorry!" she said, bowing as she stopped in front of them, clutching an empty basket in her hands.

"So what were you up to? Collecting souvenirs?" she asked, gesturing to the basket.

"Oh…"she said, "Actually I was delivering herbs and food to the nice refugees that were here before us."

"Refugees?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, they had tan skin, red eyes, and white hair. I don't know what race they are though. I haven't seen anyone like them before," Shiemi explained, "But they were kind enough to make room for us and leave us alone when the principal asked."

"Ishvalians…" Ed said nodding, "What are they doing way out here?"

Shiemi shrugged. "I don't know, but they looked pretty worn out from traveling, so I grew them some vegetables and healing herbs-" she started but was cut off by Ed.

"Wait, did you say 'grew'?!" he questioned, "Exactly how long have you guys been here?"

Shiemi was taken aback by his loud response. "Only since yesterday…" she said quietly.

"Then how did you grow anything? I thought you said you didn't have alchemy!" Ed questioned, very confused.

"...Well yeah…" Shiemi said, "But I do have Nee…"

Ed raised an eyebrow at her. "What's a 'nee'?" he asked.

Suddenly a little green creature made of leaves popped out of the flap in her basket. "NEEE!" it cried.

Shiemi and Shura snickered slightly as he jumped back in response. "What is that?" Ed asked as he gave the tiny humanoid creature an odd look.

"This is Nee, my familiar," Shiemi said, cupping him in one of her hands and holding him up to Ed's face, "He's a kind of demon called a baby greenman. Say hi, Nee!"

"Ne!" the tiny demon chirped happily as it extended one of its tiny hands out.

Edward gave it an odd look, glancing to Shura before carefully reaching a hand up and gently grasping the tip of his stubby arm between his thumb and pointer finger. "Uh...nice to meet you...Nee," he said, shaking the tiny demon's hand. This made Shiemi smile. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why do you have a demon with you?" Ed questioned, "You're an exorcist, right? Don't exorcists...hunt demons?"

"Not all exorcists," Shiemi explained, "Some tame them or get them to stop destructive behavior by reasoning with them. I'm training to become a tamer."

Edward smiled at that. That sort of job would definitely suit her well. She seemed like she would be better at calming down a monster rather than killing it. He smirked as he thought of her rubbing the giant demon dog form Dublith's belly and calling it a good boy as if it were a regular hound. Still there was one thing still bothering him. "That still doesn't explain how he was able to help you grow vegetables in a day," he said.

"Oh! That's easy to explain! Let me show you!" she said, "Nee? I know you've done a lot for me today, but can you do one more demonstration? I need some Mr. Sancho, please."

The demon nodded its head before giving a loud shout of "NEE!" Ed practically jumped back as an aloe plant sprouted from the demon's stomach.

"What the hell?!"he cried, "How did it do that?!"

Shiemi tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean? All baby greenmen can do that," she said simply.

"But it just came out of nowhere!" Ed argued, "There was no conversion of matter, no balance of equations…"

Shura placed a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Yeah, hate to break it to you…" Shura said, "But the laws of Equivalent exchange don't exactly apply to demons in general, not just the ones that walk around looking like clowns."

"But-But-" Ed growled before throwing his hands up in the air, "GAH! IT MAKES NO SENSE!"

"Mr. Elric, are you ok?!" Shiemi asked.

Ed groaned as he ran his hands down his face. "No, it's just…" he sighed, "Hundreds of years worth of scientific research and affirmation of the laws...all down the drain…"

"Sorry kid, but we don't exactly have time to mourn the death of science," she said, "Come on. Let's get out of this desert before our car over heats before we can even start it."

"Fine…" He sighed, beginning to follow them back. As he did so, he glanced back at the ruins. He squinted his eyes as he noticed one in particular. It looked like half of some kind of transmutation circle...just like the one in lab 5.

"HEY!" Shura called, snapping him to attention, "Are you coming or what?"

"I'm coming!" Ed called heading after them.

…

Rin peered behind the dumpster before cursing. They were right there! How did they follow him? He ran halfway across the train yard. In less than a minute! There's no way they could have found him so fast. Then he saw Dolcetto sniffing the air and he growled. Of course. They just had to have the dog chimera with them now. Why was he even there?! He supposed it didn't matter if they were all trying to kill him. What was really weird was the fact that the girl was there. Who was she? Why was Scar traveling with a little girl? What was with the tiny panda? Or even stranger, why the hell was YOKI of all people with him?!

Rin didn't have time to contemplate this, as they got closer. He had to think of a way out of this. He couldn't use his sword because there were civilians in the general area who could spot him, and he didn't have his ignition gloves with him. Even if there weren't any civilians, there was no way he could fight the both of them at once, especially when one of them is Scar. Damn it! What was he supposed to do?!

His eyes widened as he remembered something and dug into his pockets. He prayed to God that he had one on him and nearly whooped in delight as he saw that he did. He pulled out Kuro's summoning paper and pricked his thumb on one of his fangs before rubbing it onto the page. "Come on buddy, I need you!" he whispered before throwing it onto the ground. With a puff of smoke, the black cat sidhe appeared and shook itself. It then looked up at Rin curiously.

"Rin?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm in a bit of a pickle. There's a swordsman and an alchemist out to kill me and I need to get away, think you can handle them?" He asked.

Kuro glanced around the corner before frowning and nodding. "Nobody hurts my master!"he hissed.

"Thanks buddy," he said, "One last thing, whatever you do, do not let the tan guy touch you with his tattooed arm, got it? And try not to hurt them too much, there's a little girl with them and a homeless guy who's pretty much harmless."

"Got it!" the cat said with a nod before leaping out from behind the dumpster.

"He's close by," Dolcetto said, as he sniffed the air, leading them. The three others followed behind him towards a dumpster before Mei suddenly got a chill up her spine.

"There's another one!" she cried, " There's something else behind that dumpster!"

"What are you talking about?" Yoki said.

"I can sense another monster," she said, "It just appeared out of nowhere...and it's almost as strong as the other one!"

Scar raised an eyebrow and Dolcetto began to look suspicious. "That's impossible," he said, "There's no way another one could have just come out of nowhere, especially one as strong as-"

"Mrow?"

They all turned to see a cat at Scar's feet. However, it was no ordinary cat. It had green horns and two tails. "There it is!" Mei cried, taking a few steps back.

Dolcetto turned to her in confusion. "Really?" he questioned, "That's what you're afraid of?" He began to laugh. "I mean I always knew cats were evil, but I doubt this creature can be as bad as you-"

"It's gone!" Yoki suddenly gasped.

Dolcetto looked confused before Mei spoke up. "No it's not…"she whispered looking around wildly, "It's still here! Somewhere!"

Dolcetto gave them an odd look. "What are you talking about? Are you trying to pull my leg? I can still smell it you know," he said, "I don't have to look around to know it's still there."

All of a sudden, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to Scar who was looking wide-eyed at something in front of him. He slowly pointed upwards, and as he followed his his gaze, he suddenly realized where that rhythmic breeze suddenly came from. Towering above him was a giant, angry black cat demon. Dolcetto swallowed. "Well...Shit…" he muttered.

The demon cat roared at him and batted him and Scar out of the way. Rin stepped out from behind the dumpster and looked on in awe. He had never seen Kuro like this. It was awesome. However, he quickly snapped out of his awe as he realized he still had to escape. He jumped out from behind the dumpster and ran.

Yoki was extremely confused. Scar and Dolcetto had just been sent flying like a car had hit them! What the heck had happened? He didn't see anything that could have hurt them...But he did see the boy running away from them as fast as he could. "Look!" He cried, "He's getting away!"

Scar pulled himself up before attempting to chase after him. He pulled out a jar and dipped his hand in it before charging at Rin. "You won't escape me foul demon!" he roared. He started catching up to Rin, but was surprised to find he came to a halt and was lifted into the air. He looked behind him to see that the cat monster had grabbed his jacket in his mouth. The cat growled before he began swinging him around like a rag doll.

"Scar!" Dolcetto cried as he got up. He slashed the back of Kuro's leg and he screeched in pain, dropping Scar. However, Dolcetto's victory did not last as the cat sidhe kicked the dog chimera aside.

"Leave them alone!" Mei shouted, drawing a circle and driving her daggers into the ground beneath Kuro. She may not be able to see him, but she could sense him. She pressed a hand into the ground and blue electricity fired off before the ground beneath him turned into a fist and flung him into the air. This surprised Kuro for a moment before he landed on all fours beside her. He knew Rin told him not to hurt her, but that didn't mean he couldn't incapacitate her. Quick as a flash, he simultaneously scooped her up in his mouth, carrying her gently but firmly, and he used his tails to sweep the feet out from under Scar who had just gotten up.

"WAAAAH!" she cried in surprise, "What's going on?!" She could feel a pressure around her sides and her back was becoming wet. Xiao Mei attempted to attack the giant cat by biting his ear, but that did little to help. With a flick of the ear, the panda was sent flying.

"How is that possible?!" Yoki screeched, "How is she floating?!"

Scar and Dolcetto both looked on in horror. Was that thing going to try and eat her?! "LET GO OF HER!" Dolcetto cried, running forth to slash its throat. Kuro simply brought a paw down on top of him, causing him to face plant into the ground. The giant cat them began batting hon around like a ball of yarn. When Scar tried once again to deconstruct the cat while he was kicked through the air into a nearby coal cart.

As all this was happening, Yoki watched on, wondering if he actually woke up this morning.

….

Rin sharply turned the corner into the train car and promptly collapsed on the nearest seat, panting. Not a minute later, the doors closed and the train let out a final whistle as it began to move. Rin sighed in relief, glad to have escaped the group. However, his relief dissipated as he realized Kuro was still in danger. He quickly pulled out the summoning paper and tore it up, sending Kuro back to Central.

….

Scar crawled out of the coal cart, covered in black dust. He rubbed the soot out of his eyes and saw that Dolcetto was trying to slash at the giant cat's face from a top a storage shed. He managed to strike the bridge of his nose and Kuro cried out, releasing Mei, she fell to the ground with an "Oof!"and scrambled away as the cat stumbled back, shaking its head. Dolcetto's victory was short-lived as this made the cat demon angry and he smashed the shed he was standing on.

The swords man fell off onto the ground and the cat pinned him beneath one paw. Kuro's claws were outstretched, sinking into the ground around him. Dolcetto struggled but stopped as the giant cat brought its face inches from his. Kuro's teeth were bared and he growled at him. Dolcetto felt himself fill with panic. He felt more like a mouse than a dog right now.

Mei saw this and ran to collect her daggers. "Don't you dare hurt him, monster!" She shouted as she began drawing another circle. At the same moment, Scar dipped his hand in holy oil and jumped from the coal car, flinging himself at the cat sidhe. "Prepare to meet your demise, demon!" he roared as he came down upon the cat, arm outstretched as it sparked with alchemic energy. Kuro looked up at him with wide eyes. At the same moment, Mei sent a fist made of earth flying at him. Everything moved in slow motion as the two forces were about to collide with the demon…but they never hit.

POOF!

Scar's eyes widened as the demon cat suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. He barely had time to react as he was suddenly hit by Mei's rock fist. She gasped as this occurred and Yoki winced. "Mr. Scar?!"she cried as she ran over to them, "Are you OK?!"

He lay on the ground, clutching his stomach. "The demon…" He coughed, "It's gone…It just disappeared."

"So…" Dolcetto said," shakily picking himself up, "Does that me we won?"

"Won what?!" Yoki questioned, "Can someone please explain what just happened?! You two were jumping around, and she was flying! And that shed! It just exploded! What the hell is going on?!"

"I don't know what happened to the demon," Scar said with a grimace, "But I do know one thing…" As if on cue, a train whistle sounded in the distance. "We missed our train, and Shaitan is most likely on it," he growled.

….

"Yuki!" Elicia cried, "Yuki come quick!"

Yukio rushed into the room at Elicia's distressed cry. "What?!"he said, "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

Elicia shook her head no and held up Kuro, who was lying in her lap. "Kuro disappeared and then came back with boo-boos and really sleepy!" she cried. The cat lazily opened its eyes as she thrust him in his face before promptly falling back asleep. Yukio raised an eyebrow as he examined the cat. He could only find a few small cuts, the most noticeable being just above his nose and on his hind leg, but they were already mostly healed. Yukio frowned. The cat must have gotten into a fight. That would explain why he was so exhausted...However it didn't explain what kind of fight he got into.

"Don't worry," Yukio said placing a hand on her shoulder, "He probably just got into an argument with another kitty. He'll be fine by tomorrow."

Elicia frowned before nodding. "Ok…" She said, "Don't run off like that again, ok Kuro?" Kuro simply yawned in response and curled up in her lap.

….

"Really?" Jean questioned, "They're ok?" Roy had gathered team Mustang into a room after his meeting with Yukio.

"Yes," he said, "Rin just called Yukio letting him know they were both alright. They managed to get away from that Amaimon character. Rin should be back in roughly a day."

Riza crooked an eyebrow in suspicion at that. "Wait…" Fuery said, "Just Rin? What about Ed?"

"Fullmetal is a bit preoccupied at the moment," Roy said simply, "He's stopping by Dublith and meeting up with some friends of his."

Lie. Riza narrowed her eyes at Roy. While the others accepted this explanation, Riza was still more than suspicious. Something was wrong. Something had been wrong with him since he had found out that Rin had been kidnapped. He had accepted it too easily. He had been too calm the entire time. She remembered what kind of state he had been in when Rin had run away, how frantic his voice had been. He had been even more distressed when he thought Rin might be in danger due to Scar and she remember how he had broken down when he had almost been killed by the murderer. This didn't add up. Sure he had been deathly worried at first, but as soon as they arrived on the scene of the crime and he began interviewing people for information, his state of worry began to disperse. Why was that? It was almost like barely cared anymore! She wasn't going to let this slide. She had to find out, but she couldn't outright ask. She needed to force it out of him somehow.

"Excuse me, Sir, but that doesn't make any sense," she said, "Dublith is over a hundred miles away, there's no way he's that far away. The perpetrator had been traveling by foot and they've only been gone for a little over eight hours. There's no way a man could have crossed the city by then, let alone gotten all the way to Dublith."

The others aside from Hughes started looking skeptical. "Yeah…" Breda said, "How are they all the way out there? I remember the train here from East City took us at least a full day." All eyes were on Roy now. "Are you trying to pull one over on us?" Breda questioned.

"I promise I am not lying," Roy insisted, "I did receive a call from Rin this morning stating their whereabouts. You can ask Yukio if you wish. As for how they could possibly have traveled that far, I'll remind you that we are dealing with something clearly inhuman here. It manipulated the earth without use of a transmutation circle. It was capable of crushing the barrels of guns with it's bare hands and, according to Miss Rockbell, crumpling up and inch and a half thick titanium wrench like it was made of tin-foil." The room was silent for a moment as it processed this.

Riza was about to speak again before Hughes spoke up. "On top of that, I heard from those foreign friends of boys that the guy had been jumping rooftops like it was a game of hopscotch," he added.

Riza furrowed her brow and said nothing more, simply nodding. The others seemed to accept this. "So…" Jean said, "Back to plan A?"

Roy nodded. "We need to get our trap set up as soon as possible. If they send someone after Falman, they're probably going to do it soon," he said.

Riza frowned as she watched everyone disperse. However, she stayed for a few moments. None of Roy's behavior added up. Why was he so calm? Why was he lying to their faces? One particularly dark answer came to mind: Roy stage that capture of Rin and Ed.

She frowned. If he did, why? What could he have to gain? Nothing. Roy would stand nothing to gain from it...but someone else would. A theory had popped up in her head a few days ago, but she had dismissed it. Now, however, she was starting to revisit it. What if this wasn't Roy? What if someone had replaced him? They already knew there was a homunculus that could shape shift. What if there were more that could?

Her thoughts got even darker as she thought about this. What if this is why that person had captured Ed and Rin? What if it was to replace them as well? Heck, Rin might have already been replaced. After all...they had found a body that looked strikingly similar to him in lab 5...Rin had explained it away as a fake. That they were trying to fake his death so no one would go looking for him….But it what if it wasn't a fake? What if the real Rin was dead?

It made her sick to think about, but this was all very possible…but at the same time she could be completely wrong. After all, in the conversation she had overheard, they said the Hughes and a few other people knew about whatever was going on...to some extent. She hadn't exactly known what they had been talking about besides the fact that it involved Rin's sword. And why would that...whatever it was...steal Rin as well as? Was it just to create a cover? Nothing was truly clear at the moment, but she did know one thing: if she wanted to find out the truth, she couldn't take her eye off of Roy for a second.

….

Ed sat in the front seat next to Shura as they drove out of the desert. He glanced at her every so often as they continued one their way in silence. Mephisto had given them a map, but it was going to be a while before they reached any kind of road. There was nothing to do except continue on their way. Ed had taken to examining the dashboard of the truck. He hadn't seen anything like it before. No car he knew had this many knobs and dials.

Shura finally sighed. "Well this bites," she said, "I thought you were supposed to be a loud mouth or something. Honestly I'd have a better conversation with a GPS…"

Ed gave her a look that was a mix between confusion and annoyance. "Well sorry for not knowing how to strike up a conversation with someone from a parallel universe," he bit back. "So….What's that supposed to be?" he questioned, pointing to the car radio, "From what I can tell it's some sort of clock but I have no idea what the knobs are for."

"Oh that?" She said, "That's the radio."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "That's a radio?" he questioned, "It's so small!"

"Not particularly," she said, "I've seen smaller ones."

"Really?" Ed said, "The smallest I've seen before this was a foot tall."

"You rarely see one that big back home," she said, "Though granted, you rarely see radios period outside of cars anymore."

Ed furrowed his brow. "You're kidding…" he said, "How are radios not common? They're extremely popular in Amestris. What, are they just too expensive?"

"Nah, they sorta started dying out as television became popular," she said.

Ed blinked in confusion. "Television?" he questioned.

She gave him an odd look before realization dawned on her. "Right….1914…" she said with a sigh, "Ok, you have movies, right? Theaters that show moving picture shows?"

"Yeah, of course I know what a movie is," he said, "I've gotten to see a couple here and there." He remembered when the first theater came to East City. He probably wouldn't have thought anything of it if Rin hadn't been bouncing off the walls with excitement. He practically dragged him and Al to the theater babbling about how amazing it would be. He hadn't seen what the big deal was until they actually went to see it. However, when they had gone to see it, he and al were stunned. Sure the plot and story weren't that great, but the technology was amazing! Being able to capture motion through pictures was a technological wonder, and the special effects were amazing! He still got chills as he remember the train that had been driving towards the camera, he and Al nearly jumped in their seats. It felt like it would jump out of the screen and hit them dead on. Granted, they both knew it wouldn't really happen, but it certainly got the blood rushing.

The only one who came out of the theater disappointed was ironically enough, Rin. Ed was baffled by him. How could he not have enjoyed it? He nearly got into a pretty nasty argument with Al, surprisingly enough, when he complained about how he couldn't believe he paid to see that, and Ed swore he caught him starting to nod off during one of the action scenes. Rin never went to see another movie with them after that.

"Well television is kinda like having a smaller movie screen in your home that has set hourly programing," she said, "It's kinda like having a radio, but visual."

Ed blinked in surprise. "No way!" he cried, sitting up and crossing his arms.

"It's no joke," she insisted, "Most every house has one, and there's different things on 24/7."

"You're serious?" ßhe asked, raising an eyebrow, "Does it get different stations with different programming like radio does too?"

"Yup," she said, "But they're called channels. But to be honest that's not the only form of entertainment back home. There's been all sorts of technological advancements in my time."

"Looks like I have to learn as much about Assiah as you guys do about Amestris," he said sighing but still smiling.

"Eh, equivalent exchange, right?" she said with a shrug, "You give us info, we give you info back in return."

Ed smirked. "Sounds good to me!" he replied.


	33. Men's vows are woman's traitors

"So are their other children in the military besides you and Rin?" Shiemi asked the teenager. It was getting dark and they were still several miles from any town, so they decided to make camp. While Konekomaru, Izumo, and Bon had been avoiding Ed slightly, Shiemi and Shima had been pretty friendly and actually sat down and talked to him.

"We're not children," Ed said, "But no, not really. I mean there's Rin's brother Yukio, but he's only a military doctor, not an official soldier."

"Really?" Shima said, setting down the cooler and sitting next to them, "Rin's got a brother in the military too?"

"Yeah, he's the Life Blood alchemist," he said, "He works with medical alchemy and a foreign form of alchemy called alkahestry that can be used to heal wounds and fix broken bones quickly."

"Aw sweet!" he said with a smile, "I wish we had stuff like that back in Assiah. Then I wouldn't have had to sit out half the fall season of soccer in year three back home!"

"So he's a state alchemist too…" Shiemi said, "How does one become a state alchemist?"

"Well there's an application process in which you need to be recommended by either another state alchemist or someone of Lieutenant Colonel status or higher," Ed explained, "Then, several months later there's an exam which comes in two parts: the written and presentational. The hardest part is a written exam which was absolute hell!"

Shima and Shiemi exchanged looks. "Really? How bad was it?" Shima asked.

"It's almost impossible. Most people spend half their lives preparing for it and fail. I wasn't even able to finish mine," Ed remembered.

The two teens looked horrified by this. "Jeez! That sounds horrible!" Shima said, "But you still passed?"

"Yup!" Ed said proudly, "I got a pretty decent grade actually. Rin passed too but barely skated by, though that really is nothing to sneeze at. I don't know what Yukio got, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got a really high score considering he's kind of a genius."

Shima whistled. "I know the proof is sitting right here in front of me, but it's still crazy to think three kids passed easily when grown adults failed," he said, "You guys must be young Einsteins, huh?"

Ed blinked. "Who?" he said in deadpan.

Shiemi and Shima shared surprised and disbelieving looks. "Man this place is weird…" Shima whispered to her. She nodded.

"Well, as I said it wasn't easy," Ed said, regaining their attention, "We studied our asses off for it, but I guess it all paid off in the end."

"So if you don't mind me asking," Shiemi said, "What do you do as a state alchemist?"

Ed frowned. "This and that," he shrugged, "The role of the state alchemist is to perform research to better the government and the nation, but we usually act as the military's dogs: sent into break up corruption, stop riots, investigate illegal operations, and enforce the law when the police can't handle it whenever the government wants us among other jobs that any other soldier does."

"Really?" Shiemi said in surprise, "Oh Wow! That sounds amazing!"

"It's not that great…" Edward said frowning. Although being able to travel so much was fun, being on the leash of the military wasn't so much. He knew he'd been lucky so far to get normal jobs of protecting order, but it didn't change the fact that he didn't enjoy suddenly being thrown off from his research to do some simple task anyone else could do.

"Come on, it's gotta be somewhat fun!" Shima said, "Surely you've been on at least one or two crazy fun adventures here and there, right?"

Ed rolled his head back as he thought about it. "Yeah, I suppose so…" he said. That was an understatement. He knew all to well that half of his exploits very well belonged in a popular book for young boys like the Heissgart James series Rin so loved.

"Come on then!" Shima said, "Tell us about some of them!" He got off the cooler and pulled out some sodas, holding a can with a red label and white cursive on it that read "Coca-Cola" out to him.

Ed furrowed his brow before shrugging and taking it. "Alright," he said thinking, "I guess I can talk about the time we blew up that hideout on a giant ship in the middle of a lake…"

….

Rin exited the station, glad to be back in Central. He stood on the corner among all the businessmen hustling about. He contemplated heading back to Central command to make sure Al and everyone else knew he was alright, but at the same time, he was absolutely starving. He could stop to get something to eat at the cafeteria before hand he supposed…

"Rin?!" he heard a voice cry, "RIN!" Before he could turn around to see who he was talking to, he was suddenly slammed with the force of a pro-football player as he was tackled into a hug. "Rin I'm so glad you're ok!" The voice cried. As Rin gasped for breath, he realized that the person who had attacked him was Alphonse.

"Al?!" he gasped as the suit of armor continued to squeeze him, nuzzling him slightly.

"I'm so glad you're ok," he said, "But what happened? How did you escape? Where's Edward?"

"Let me go and I'll tell you!" he hissed. Al complied and Rin regained his breath. "Don't worry, your brother's alright," Rin explained, "Mephisto just has him playing tour guide right now. He brought some exorcists over from the other side of the gate to help us and now Ed has to teach them about Amestris for a little while."

"Oh really?" Al said, "There are more people from your world here? Who are they? What are they like?"

"I'll tell you on the way to Central Command," Rin said. Al nodded and the two headed off.

….

Riza watched carefully from the clock tower with Fuery and Black Hayate alongside her. They had been sitting there for several hours. Honestly, she didn't want to be here. She'd rather be in central command, keeping an eye on "Roy". However, Breda was there to at least make sure he didn't move. As time stretched on, she felt more and more uncomfortable. The first reason was because of who she was talking too. She had been on the phone, posing as her code name of "Elizabeth" as Roy pretended to flirt with her. Or at least, the person she thought was Roy. She'd admit, she wasn't sure about the true identity of the person she was speaking with. It could very well be Roy. Or Roy could be in a shallow grave somewhere and she could be speaking to the one of the same creatures that had attacked Hughes. The mere thought of that sent shivers up her spine...but the fact that she couldn't tell made it so much worse. He sounded EXACTLY like Roy. Not just in voice, but how he spoke. Only Roy would speak to her like this in this dorky way. It made it hard to to respond as if nothing was wrong.

The person on the other end seemed to notice this. "Elizabeth?" he said, voice holding some concern in it, "Is everything alright?"

Riza forced the smile back into her voice. "Don't worry! Everything's fine here. Just a bit boring since the shop is empty!" she said, remembering their flower shop dialogue. That was the other reason why she was uncomfortable. Nothing had happened. She was more than suspicious. It could be that they aren't trying to trap anyone. She had realized it was very, very possible that they were the ones in the trap. After all, Roy had really pushed this mission. Maybe they were next on the list of people to be replaced…

She suddenly stood up, turning off her microphone for a second. "Fuery, I think we should move to the tower a half a block East," she said.

The Sgt Major looked at her in confusion. "What?" He questioned, taken aback by her proposition. "Why?"

"I think we'll have a better vantage point over there," she explained as she picked up her equipment.

"But-!" Fuery protested. However, he was never able to finish his sentence as he was cut off by the sound of broken glass. They both turned to see that some creature in a mask had been thrown out the window of Falman's safe hold. Riza felt a wave of relief wash over her as she quickly sat back down and set up her equipment again. For once she was glad they were under attack as she cocked her her gun and prepared to fire.

….

Envy frowned as he and Gluttony watched from above as Riza shot down from above. "Damn it!" he growled, "How are they prepared for this? They should still be freaking out over the pipsqueak and the hothead's disappearance."

"Does this mean I can eat them?" Gluttony asked.

"No," he said, "If you go after them and one of them lives they might be able to track you back to our hideout." Envy frowned. They were really unprepared for this…

"Don't worry," Pride's voice rang out, "We've got something that might be useful…"

Envy raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Let's just say I doubt they'll see it coming," Pride said, confidence in his voice.

…

BANG. Another shot was fired at the strange humanoid figure below. "What was that, Elizabeth?" Roy said on the other end.

"Oh nothing. One of the customers tried to make a pass at the cashier and she smacked him around," Riza responded, preparing for the next shot.

"That will teach him I suppose," he responded. Riza chuckled slightly. Everything was going smoothly so far, the creature had been cornered and almost detained. Soon they might be able to get a bit more information about what's going on around here.

Then, however, Black Hayate started barking. Riza and Fuery paused in what they were doing to look at him. Had someone come up the stairs to sneak up on them? However, they didn't see anything. There was nothing in the room nor in the staircase and yet the dog was going mad, barking and snarling and growling like no tomorrow. Riza and Fuery gave confused looks. He had been just fine a minute ago...

"Is something wrong Elizabeth?" Roy's voice came over the line.

"Yes, everything's fine over here," she said, "The manager's dog just started barking for no reason."

"What exactly is it barking at…" Roy asked, worry in his voice.

"Come on, Blackie," Fuery said trying to calm him down and get him to back away from the open doorway to the staircase. However the dog wouldn't budge. His fur was fluffed up and his tail was held straight in alarm as he looked up art some vague point in space.

"It's not barking at anything," she insisted.

All of a sudden, Hayate shook from Fuery's grasp and seemed to lunge at a shadow. "Hayate! Stop it!" Fuery scolded moving after him to grab him and pull him back. The dog was still growling and snarling. "What the heck has gotten into you?"he whispered in worry as he turned to walk back. The black shiba tried to crawl out of his grasp and only managed to look over his shoulder to continue to growl.

Riza was wondering the same thing. What was causing this? There was nothing there!

"What's happened now?" Roy almost demanded.

Riza was put off by his serious tone of voice. "He tried to attack a shadow," she said carefully.

"Riza do you smell that?" Fuery said, loud enough for the microphone to catch, "For some reason it reeks like the dead on this half of the room…"

"What are you talking about, it didn't smell when we came in," she said getting suspicious. All of a sudden, the phone line went dead. "Colonel?"she said into the microphone, "Colonel, are you there?" There was no sound, only the dead drone of a dial tone.

"YAAAAAH!" THUMP!

Riza looked up to see Fuery was slumped against the side of a wall, knocked out. There was a slight trickle of blood running down the side of his head. Hayate was still barking madly at something. All of a sudden, he leapt at something and sunk his teeth into it. Riza's eyes widened as her dog hung in the air for a moment before he was tossed aside and hit a wall with a yelp. "Hayate!" Riza cried, worry clear in her voice. The dog tried to stand up. He woozily did so, whimpering before hacking violently for a few seconds. He then promptly vomited and fell onto his side, clearly ill.

Riza pulled out a handgun, firing several times at the invisible force. She felt her stomach sink as she realized she had been right. This had been a trap for them. Maybe not for all of them, but it was obvious now. "Roy" knew what was attacking them. He had hung up on purpose as he knew the attack was going to happen. Now this...whatever it was, was trying to kill her too. Well, it wasn't going to work. She was going to get out of here alive and expose what's been going on if it's the last thing she did.

She reached for her hand radio. She pressed the button down in an attempt to call for backup, but the radio was suddenly smashed and she felt a sharp pain in her leg as she was dragged across the floor, away from her equipment.

She turned to point her handgun at what had grabbed her and her eyes widened in horror. She stared up at a hobbled together twisted looking abomination of rotten flesh. It was stitched together like a quilt, some parts looking like they were about to fall off. It reminded her of a human transmutation she and Roy had investigated. The person who transmuted that thing had died from blood loss and so they had caught a glimpse of his creation before anyone could clean it up.

She grimaced in disgust before she fired directly at what appeared to be its head. The bullet went through, but the wound closed up near instantly. Her eyes widened at this and she fired again a few more times. The results of those attempts weren't much different.

….

Rin and Alphonse walked down the hall towards Mustang's office. He expected to walk through the door and have Jean and Breda greet him with a punch to the shoulder and have Fuery and Falman breath a sigh of relief before asking him dozens of questions about what had happened.

What he did not expect was for his father to tear down the hall, running past him and nearly causing him to tip over in surprise. "What the hell?" Rin said, "Was that dad?!"

"The Colonel looked pretty worried," Al said, "Maybe there's an emergency…We should go see what's wrong." Rin nodded before heading after him.

"Maes," Roy said into his walkie-talkie as he ran down the hall, "Maes come in!"

"Yeah? Something up?" he said as he and Havock finished cornering the human beast.

"Get to the clock tower right now! There's a demon there attacking Riza and Fuery!" Roy demanded.

Maes froze in horror for a moment before nodding, face becoming grim. "Alright I'll be right there," he began pushing past Falman, Jean, and Barry. "Sorry, there's something I need to take care of," he said running past them, "I'll be right back."

Meanwhile, as Roy shoved his radio back into his pocket, he heard someone call his name.

"Dad! Wait up!" the voice of his son called. Roy turned briefly and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Rin running down the hall.

"Good to see you're back," he said as he continued on his way, "But I don't have time for reunions I'm afraid. Riza's in trouble."

Both boys looked surprised. "What?!" Al cried in distress, "What happened?!"

"Demon attack," Roy said, quickening his pace and causing the boys to gasp, "You two stay here while I deal with this."

"What?!" Rin cried, "No way! We're coming with!"

Roy glared over his shoulder at Rin. "No way in hell!" He growled, "You know they're out to capture you! Do you want to just hand yourself over?"

"I know that, but I also know I have way more experience than you hunting demons!" Rin said, "I've faced off against a demon king and won! What have you done?"

Roy slowed his pace before sighing. He was right. He didn't like to admit it, but due to recent circumstances, Rin has had more practice dealing with demons than any of them. Really he should be more worried about himself than Rin. "Fine, but keep up!" he said, running as fast as he could down the stairs to the parking lot. The three hopped in a car and sped off, praying to God that they didn't get there too late.


	34. All the perfumes of Arabia

BANG! BANG! The creature continued to try and drag her closer. But Riza wasn't having any of it. Even if her bullets did little more than slow it down she wasn't going down without a fight. As it pulled her closer, she got an idea. She pulled out her military issue pocket knife and slashed at the creature's hand. It screamed in agony before letting go, allowing her to move back and grab her heavy artillery. As she did so, she noticed its wound heal.

She turned, preparing her semi automatic to fire, however, before she could do so, she saw some sort of metal instrument pierce through its shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw the creature stumble slightly. Behind it stood Maes Hughes, brandishing some sort of red and blue throwing knife. He pressed a button at the top, causing the blade to extend before he threw it through the beast's hand pinning it to the ground.

"You ok?" he said pulling another two out and doing the same to some of its other limbs.

Riza's surprise instantly dissipated as she nodded. "It only scratched my leg, but it tossed Fuery like a rag doll and did something to make Hayate sick," she explained.

Maes looked at her leg and noted the deep gashed. "Doesn't look like just a scratch to me…"he said.

"I've had worse, especially compared to them," she said with a frown, jerking her head in the direction of the dog and her fallen comrade.

Suddenly, the beast jerked up as it tried to free its limbs. "Come on!" Maes said, picking up Fuery's unconscious form, "Let's get out of here before that thing gets back up! I only have so many of these special daggers left." Riza nodded before scooping up Hayate and heading down the stairs with him. As they did they heard the breaking of boards as the creature freed itself from the floor. They turned as the saw it enter the staircase. Maes threw one more holy dagger at it, hitting it's eye. "Come on!" he cried as they began running down the stairs faster.

Although they had gotten a head start, not only was the creature extremely fast, but it could walk across walls and ceilings. Riza turned back in momentary confusion as she couldn't see it behind them anymore. Had it gone invisible again? She quickly found this was not the case as she heard a sudden thump and quickly looked back, screeching to a halt as it landed in front of them. They backed up slightly and maes prepared another throwing knife. He cursed as he realized he only had three left on him. 'Well,' he thought, 'better make this count…'

However, he didn't need to. All of a sudden, the beast screamed in pain as it was suddenly doused from behind in perfumed oil. It crouched in on itself, allowing the two military officers to see who had drenched it. Riza's eyes widened as she saw it was Roy standing there with a murderous look in his eye. He said nothing as he suddenly snapped his fingers and the creature burst into flames. Maes and Riza had to look away due to the intensity of the bright white flames. Once they died down, she looked back at him. He was still glaring down at the pile of ash with hatred. He then looked up again, eyes full of worry. "Are you alright?" he asked.

It was at that moment that Riza knew she had been wrong. This hadn't been some trap to get rid of her, at least not by him. There was no way this wasn't the real Roy. Why would he have come to save them if he wasn't? Although this created a whole new set of questions, she was filled with relief that the real Roy was alive.

...However, that didn't stop her from voicing her annoyance. "I'm fine Sir, but you shouldn't be here!" she said, "The whole point of you not being here in the first place was so they couldn't trace this back to you! No matter what happened to us, you could have stayed out of this."

Roy frowned in annoyance. "What, not even a thank you?" he questioned, "I just saved your life!"

"To be honest, although I do appreciate the save, she does have a point," Hughes said with an apologetic shrug of his shoulders, "You getting involved with this might come back to bite us in a pretty bad way. Beside I was the one who was supposed to get her out of there. That's why you called me, right?"

"Wait he called you?!" Riza said, turning to him in surprise, "And you still came here?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"He kinda wasn't!" a voice called from behind. They all looked to see Rin climbing up the stairs with Al behind him. "You should have seen his driving getting here, it was like he had no idea how to control a car!" Rin said.

Roy's eye twitched in annoyance. "Oh, so you're going to berate me too?" he questioned.

"You brought those two along too?" Riza questioned, "Do you not realize what could happen if they're found to be connected to this?"

"To be fair, we're already waist deep in this shit," Rin pointed out.

"And I didn't exactly have a choice! I didn't have time to stop and argue!" he shot back.

"There didn't have to be an argument, you just could have stopped them from getting into the car with you!" she retorted.

"GUYS!" they suddenly heard Havock's voice call, "Barry's body is on the move and Barry's gone after it! We gotta go!"

The five people exchanged looks before nodding and heading down stairs and out the door. After dropping off Fuery and Hayate with Falman and instructing him to call Yukio for help, they all hopped into their cars and headed out: Havock with Hughes and Riza, Roy, Rin, and Al together in another. The drive was quiet for a few moments as they tracked the serial killer down. Roy glanced at Riza out of the corner of his eye. After a few moments he noticed she was gripping her leg. He could see the blood that had soaked through the torn fabric. His eyes widened slightly, though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised. She was able to see the thing that had attacked her after all. "Here," he said pulling out a bottle of holy water from his pocket, "Wash it with this."

She blinked in surprise before taking it and doing as he instructed. She couldn't read the label. "What is this?" she questioned as she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed some out.

"It's a special formula that will prevent your wound from getting infected," he said, "Yukio found out about it in Xing."

"Liar," she said simply, causing them to all look slightly surprised, "What is it really?"

Roy didn't know what to say. "What, do you think it's a poison or something?" he questioned, "Why would you think that? I think I made it very clear earlier that I don't want you to die."

"That's not why I'm asking," she said, "Of course I don't think that, I'm not stupid. But you keep lying to me. You lied about Rin's sword, You lied about Rin and Ed's where abouts, and now you're lying about something as simple as this. How the hell am I supposed to keep my promise to you if you can't even trust me enough to tell me the contents of a water bottle?" She turned to look at him. "So I want the truth," she said, "What's going on? Why were you hiding those things from the men and me? What was that thing back there?"

Rin and Al exchanged awkward looks. This wasn't exactly the best time to explain all this stuff about demons to her. Roy sighed. "I'm afraid I can't tell you," he said, "At least not now. I'm sorry. It's a very long story, but I promise I will explain everything once this is over." "For now...I can at least tell you the contents of that bottle," he said, "to be completely honest, it's just water. But it's been processed in such away that it can be used to stop the negative effects of wounds caused by creatures like that."

"And what exactly was that thing?" she asked.

"An experiment from lab 5," he responded.

She frowned at him. "I know that thing wasn't a chimera," she said, "What was it really?"

"I never said it was a chimera, only an experiment," he said, "It's more like a Frankenstein's monster than anything else."

"Frankenstein's monster?" she questioned before realization dawned on her. "Are you saying they brought something back to life?!"she exclaimed in horror.

"No, not truly," Roy said, "You can't bring someone back to life. The best I can explain it now is that they've figured out how to shove a soul inside a corpse." It wasn't untrue. A naberius was made of sewn together corpses with the essence of a powerful demon or many demons controlling it.

Riza frowned darkly as she processed this new information. She then continued applying the water before she glanced up to the rear view mirror. As she did so, she noticed there was something off about Rin. She couldn't put her finger on it but he definitely looked different.

When they caught up to Barry the Chopper, they found themselves at the gates of Lab 3. "Why am I not surprised…" Roy muttered as they stared at the facility. They also found that he was already running headlong into the building after his body.

"Damn it!" Jean said as he got out of the car, "Does this guy have any self control?"

"Well, he was a serial killer, so...no," Maes said as he climbed out of the car, "But at least now we have a reason to bust in." The group exchanged smirks before grabbing their supplies and heading out.

….

The scientists were absolutely flustered by the situation. First some wild man-beast came barreling through the door, then some knife wielding nut job came through, swinging a butcher's knife around like someone trying to swat a fly. He chased after the man beast and no one tried to stop him, as they didn't want to be minced, either accidentally or possibly on purpose. Just when things didn't look like they could get much stranger, a horde of military personnel and another man in a suit of armor came barging in after. "All personel need to evcuate immediately," Roy commanded as they patrolled down the hall, "We have reason to believe the felon we've been tracking down has broken into your facility. He's armed an highly dangerous, so you all need to exit the building for your own safety."

"Sorry ma'am!" Hughes said, brushing past a few of the scientists, "Excuse us! Wasn't much time for a search warrant!" They continued to brush past guards and people until they got to the first lower level and reached a fork. "Alright…" Roy said, "We'll have to split up into two groups…" He then turned to them. "Havock, Hughes, you come with me," he said, "Hawkeye, you take Alphonse and Rin with you."

Riza raised an eyebrow at this. She was about to speak when all of a sudden Maes spoke up. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll have his back while you're away."

Riza rolled her eyes before nodding. The two groups headed off into separate directions, not knowing what evils awaited them.

…

"Well, that certainly panned out well," Envy grumbled as he followed lust along in the hall, "Of course a demon's going to be able to stop them! It's not like it's never worked before!"

The feminine homunculus shrugged. "To be fair, we didn't know Hughes would be capable of holding it off," she said, "And who's fault is it that he's still alive?"

Envy glared at his sibling. "Oh will you just shut up?!" he snapped, "Fighting that kid isn't as easy as it looks."

"So I take it that you won't be dealing with little miss Lieutenant, then, will you?"she said. Envy's face blanched and he froze in place, hesitating at the thought of possibly facing off against the kid while the memory of the burn was still fresh in his mind. Lust smirked at that. "Fine then," she said, "I'll just have to deal with her and the kids after I'm done playing with the big boys…"

Envy rolled his eyes. "Remember not to kill the sacrifices!" he called back.

….

Mustang, Havock, and Hughes continued downward into the belly of the building. As they did, dingy, dark tunnels that look more like they were apart of a dungeon replaced the clean, pristine white laboratory walls or a sewer system than a government funded laboratory.

"Yeesh…" Hughes said, frowning at the grundgy medical equipment on the desk of the room they entered, "If I didn't know better, I'd say this place was due to be shut down any day by a health and safety inspector."

"Lab 5 wasn't even truly shut down and there were many more violations going on there, why shut down this one for a little health and safety concern?" Roy responded, "The inspectors, if there are any, probably don't know this part of the building exists."

"Then I guess it's up to us to give this place a once over," Jean said with a smirk. The other men returned it until they caught whiff of something on there air.

"Do you smell that?" Maes said, "It smells like…perfume!"

They began to hear the clicking of heels. "Yeah…" Roy said, "I know this perfume...I smelled it at the break in."

"Hey wait a minute!" Havock cried, "I recognize it too! That's Arabia #58!"

They both looked at him in confusion and alarm. "How do you know that?" Maes questioned.

"It's the kind my girlfriend Solaris uses…"he said before realization dawned on him.

"Oh, you remembered? So you do care," A sultry voice said, causing them to all turn and see a very beautiful woman in a black dress, "However, I'm still mad that you stood me up. I was waiting for hours you know? And here I find you instead getting into trouble with your buddies. How like a man." She was smirking the entire time.

"Solaris?!" Jean whispered, a look of shock and betrayal on his face.

"No…" Hughes said, pulling out one of his knives, "She's the woman that attacked me before the shape shifting homunculus got to me…"

"Good to see you again too!~" she responded with a wink, "Though I had hoped after our last encounter the next time I'd be seeing you would be at your funeral. It's a shame. I had a black dress ready and everything."

Maes growled at her. "But you should be dead! I sent a knife through your head!" he said.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to keep me down," she said, "I'm a homunculus too, you know, though I thought the tattoo would have made it obvious. Long story short we're all a bit harder to get rid off than you humans, even if you do seem to spread like cockroaches." "Though I suppose that's all the more reason to get rid of you," she said as her nails extended.

"Just my luck…" Jean muttered, "The one girl that doesn't dump me or cheat on me wants to kill me...Why did I have to fall for a homunculus?!"

"Well no offence but you were always a sucker for large breasts," Roy said with a shrug.

"I CAN'T HELP IT OK?!" Jean shot back in defense.

"If you're quiet done…" Lust said, "I believe it's time to die." She swiped at them, destroying Roy gun and knocking the knife out of Maes' hand in one fell swoop. Roy pulled on a glove, ready to snap. However, she quickly slashed the sprinkler system, dousing them all. The men stood there for a second, blinking in surprise. "Oh, did I get your ignition gloves wet?" she said in faux sadness. Whelp, there went their best long distance defense. Time for plan B: Duck and cover. The three ran out of the room quickly, Jean firing a few times at her to slow her down. However, lust got back up fairly quickly. If they were anyone else they would be doomed. However, Roy had already thought of a solution to their problem. "Everyone take cover," he said placing a hand on the ground, "Jean, I'm going to need your lighter,"

….

"Rin how are you so sure he's down this way?" Riza called as they ran down the hall. The teen had been leading the way for the past twenty minutes, blindly running down corridors.

"I can hear his clanging, he has to be this way!" Rin said. That was half true. He could hear the suits clanging, but he was mostly going by smell. Barry's body hadn't seen a shower in a long time. There was no mistaking that scent.

Riza frowned. "Are you sure that's not just Al's…" She said as she continued after them.

"No, I know it isn't, this one is much fainter!" He called, "You just can't hear it from back there. She was about twenty paces behind him. How the boy could run so fast, she didn't know.

They ended up in a white room, where they found Barry standing over the corpse of his own body. "What the heck?!" Rin cried, "You really killed yourself?!"

"Huh?" the serial killer said, "Nah, I didn't do it. The thing collapsed on its own. Must have just given out."

Al and Riza walked up to it. "It looks like its rotting…" Al noted in horror.

"Well I guess that's what happens when you shove the wrong soul in the wrong body," Barry said with a shrug. Al looked shocked by this. If that's what happened to a body with the wrong soul in it, then what happened to a body without a soul in it at all.

"Whelp," Barry said, slinging his knife over his shoulder, "This was a complete waste of time. Time to head out!"

"Wait," Rin said holding up a hand, "What's this?" They turned to see what they were staring at. On the opposite end of the room was a large decorative door. Part of it was what looked like a giant array of some kind. "What is this thing…" He muttered as he walked up to it.

Riza and Al got closer as well, equally curious. "I have no idea…" Al said, "I've never seen an array like this before…"

Even Barry was curious now, stopping in his departure and turning to face them. "Ooo a secret door!" he said, "There was a door like this back in Lab five but I was never allowed in. Wonder where it leads!"

"Well…" Rin said, "There's only one way to find out." He began pushing on the door to try and open it.

…

After the entire room had been burnt to a crisp by Roy's fiery display, the three men walked back into the room, examine the situation. They wrinkled their noses at the stench of burnt human flesh. "God it smells awful in here…" Maes muttered as he tried to search for his knife.

"Hate to say it, but you get used to it…" Roy muttered.

Jean cursed as he picked up his now broken lighter. "Damn it…"he muttered, "This was a gift from one of my exes…" He then turned to Roy as he pulled out his box of cigarettes. "I don't suppose you could give me a light," he asked. Roy raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. "Oh right, you're useless when wet," Jean teased.

Roy growled. "Yeah, well those things will kill you, you know?!" he shouted.

"True, but Jean's also right," Maes said, "Maybe you should start carrying around a lighter in case of an emergen-CY!" His last word was strangled at the end as he was suddenly pierced through the shoulder as Jean was through the back.

Roy gasped in horror, caught completely off guard by what had just happened. "Nice idea…" He heard a sultry voice call out as the implements that had stabbed them slunk out of his friends bodies. They collapsed to the floor as Roy saw Lust was starting to regenerate slowly. She looked half formed, with most of her skull still gone and only one leg. Still she had both her arms. How was this possible?! How could she come back from that?! "I told you sweetheart, we homunculi are a lot harder to get rid of than you think," she said, "But if it makes you feel better, you did a wonderful job of pissing me off. Too bad though. I was going to let you live. You would have been useful." She then slashed out his gloves. They fell off his hands in shredded strands. Roy stumbled back and grabbed Havock's gun, ready to fire. However, he never got the chance to, as he was stabbed in the side by her claws.

"But now I'm too angry to care," she said with a smirk.

"ROY!" Maes cried as she retracted them. He tried to get up, but Lust kicked him in the stomach as she passed him.

"Have fun you three," she said, "I have to go deal with the other intruders." Roy glared at her as she walked away, desperately gripping his side to stop the flow of blood.

"Damn you..." Roy growled before turning his attention towards his wounded friends. What could he do? He was runnign out of time. Jean would bleed to death fairly quickly. He peered across the floor looking for anything that could help. Maybe there were still some medical supplies about. However, he only spotted Jean's broken lighter. Roy grunted with determination as he got an idea.


	35. Sound and fury

"And then when the rig exploded, we were forced to use one of the boilers as a raft!" Ed said, laughing in hind sight.

"Really?!"the three gasped. Shima, Shiemi and now even Konekomaru were sitting around him absolutely enthralled by his story.

"Yeah. It took us forever to reach shore!" he continued, "We had no paddles and we almost sank twice! We ended up using Al's helmet once to scoop out the water. Then Rin finally figured out he could use his flame alchemy to evaporate it and we were able to find the spot that was causing us to sink."

The other teens laughed. "Man, you were really lucky!" Shima said.

"Yeah, we've ended up catching a lot of lucky breaks while traveling," Ed said, "I can't tell you how many times we almost died."

"Yikes…" Konekomaru said, "Glad I wasn't in your shoes for those moments…"

"Yeah," Shima agreed, "I'm not as good at thinking on my feet as you apparently are."

"HEY!" Izumo called angrily, "Are you guys going to help set up camp or not?!" She and Bon glared at them as they tried to pitch a tent.

"Aw, but his stories are so interesting!" Shima pretended to whine, "Come on guys, why don't you join us?"

"As if!" Izumo said, crossing her arms, "Unlike apparently some of you, I actually want to have a tent to sleep in before dark and actually have a fire ready before supper time!"

"Come onnn!" Shima goaded, "A little break won't hurt you! Besides, his stories are really good!" Izumo rolled her eyes and turned away back to the tent.

Edward's brow furrowed. She was not going to be easy to get along with. "Well fine then…" Shima sighed, "What about you, Bon?"

The teen with brown and yellow hair glared at them. Well, more specifically, at Edward. "No," he stated bluntly, "Just because I have to protect that guy and his buddy, doesn't mean I have to hang out with him." He then turned back to staking the tent.

Edward narrowed his eyes and growled before marching up to him and turning him around. "What's you're problem?!" he demanded, "What the hell have you got against me? I haven't done anything to you!"

"What's my problem? What's your problem!" Bon shot back, "Why the hell are you knowingly friends with the son of Satan?! Don't you realize that his father is pure evil?! And the kid inherited his powers!"

"So? He's not his father," Ed insisted, glaring up at Bon, "He's never even been in contact with him and never wants to be. He's never tried to hurt you. What reason to have to be scared of him?"

"Well to be completely honest, according to the bible his birth kinda marks the apocalypse," Shima said with an apologetic shrug.

Ed glared at him. "Are you really going to trust a stupid prophecy most likely written long before he was even conceive to tell you what's going to happen in one particular person's life?" he snapped.

"There's more to it than that!" Bon insisted, "It's not just because he's the son of satan, it's because he has the blue flames too! And we've seen exactly what those flames are capable of."

Edward crooked an eyebrow. "And what is that," he said, refusing to back down.

"T-the Blue Night…" Konekomaru spoke up. All the teens looked away nervously. Ed turned to him in confusion. "Almost 17 years ago, satan attacked Assiah, killing thousands of prominent exorcists and clergymen," he said. Ed fell silent and his eyes widened. The bald monk gripped his arms. "It happened all at once. In a single moment all over the globe exorcists suddenly began to burst into blue flames. The only tell was that they would start bleeding from their eyes and then that was it. Nothing could stop them from being engulfed. Few survived them." "Entire temples full of men and women were wiped out entirely," he continued, "Our temple was hit too. Many from it died, including my parents…" He closed his eyes momentarily before continuing. "Bon's father and a few other younger monks survived, but once people found out what happened, they began calling the temple cursed and parishioners stopped coming," he said, "This happened to a lot of survivors. If people found out they were from temples that had been hit, they'd be avoided like plague…"

"Now you see why I don't like him? He has that exact same power. If he wanted to he could very well level this entire planet," Bon said, "How can you trust anyone with that kind of power? It's evil! All it can cause is destruction and death to those that get too close."

Edward was stunned by this. His mouth was open slightly in horror as he took all this in. He could feel a deep sympathy and pity for them. He hung his head in thought. He'd admit knowing such a force existed was terrifying, and knowing Rin had the exact same power was even more so. He had to stop himself from picturing Rin causing that to happen. Seeing the world just engulfed in flames and Rin at the center….It was more than a horrifying thought. He shook his head. "No," he said, "Maybe Satan himself is, but not Rin."

"And the reason why? Because I've seen evil. I know what it looks like," he continued as he looked up, "Sure what happened was evil, But you know what else is? Evil is a man brainwashing a town into thinking he's a prophet to make an army out of them. Evil is a creature who disguises himself as a man's wife to kill him. Evil is the person who forces another man to commit unspeakable atrocities against his will. Evil is a person who attacks a man's family to keep them quiet! Evil is a man who slaughters a bar full of people and runs someone through in front of a young boy in some sort of deluded form of justice! Evil is the man who uses his wife and daughter as lab rats!" He huffed as he finished his rant. Everyone around him looked shocked, particularly bon as his mouth hung open dumbly. "I have seen every one of those things happen and have fought tooth and nail to stop them, but so has Rin, sometimes he fights to stop them more than me," Ed said, "So don't you dare tell me that he's evil! He's my friend, and one of the best ones I could ask for! I trust him with my life and I can say with the utmost certainty that he is nothing like his father."

Ed grabbed Bon by the shirt. "If I ever here you compare them again," he growled, a fire in his eyes, "I'll make you regret you ever opened your mouth!" Bon's eyes were wide as Ed relaxed his grip and walked off to start helping with the fire.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Bon spoke up. "Elric," he said, causing the small sixteen year old to pause. Ed turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Bon didn't face him but continued to speak. "My ultimate goal in life is to defeat Satan," he said, "But if what you are saying is true, and this Mustang kid really is the kind of person you say he is, then I will be more than happy to team up with the two of you." Ed's shoulders relaxed. "But I want to see for myself," Bon said, turning to him, "I'm not going to go off someone else's opinion of someone. People can say whatever they like about someone and it can be as good as true until you actually get to know them. I want to make my own opinion." A smile formed on Ed's face as he nodded. Bon then moved towards him to help him build a fire.

...

"Come on!" Rin huffed, feeling across the wall, "There has to be som way in!" The others gave him annoyed looks as he continued to try and find a way through the door.

"Come on! Let's go!" Barry whined, "I'm getting bored!"

"Rin," Riza said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "We really should get going. There still is a lot of this place that needs to be explored."

"No!"he insisted, "There's something important behind this door! I can feel it!" He then turned back to it. "There's gotta be some way in..." he growled.

"Why not try asking nicely," a voice called. They all turned to see a woman in a black dress. Rin recognized her. She was the homunculi from the lab. He immediately placed a hand to the hilt of his sword. Riza and Al took note of this and got into their own attack position.

"Well, well, well..." Barry said, "If it isn't old Lusty!"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Number 66, what is the meaning of this?" she demanded, "Care to explain why you're working for the colonel?"

"Oh, I thought I'd switch things up for now," he said, "Besides...I've wanted to cut you up since I first met you!"

Lust sighed. "You're such a handful, 66," she grumbled, "And I'm sad to see you and the hellspawn are here too, armor boy. I've already had to kill one candidate today...Granted, I suppose I can just incapacitate you if I'm careful., After all, I don't think limbs are required for what we need you for..." Riza raised an eyebrow. Hellspawn? what did she mean by that?

"Another one?" Al asked.

"That's enough out of you! All I want to hear from you now is screaming!" Barry shouted. The suit took a running start at the homunculus, blade poised to attack. However, he never landed a blow as with one slash of her ultimate spear, Lust had cut him to pieces.

Rin and Riza gasped. "Barry!" Al cried. However, it was no use. As the metal fragments rained down, it was clear the suit bound soul was gone.

"I hate over confident men..." Lust sneered as she examined her nails, "Now then...where was I? Oh yes, I believe I was about to send the Lieutenant to meet her superior."

The small group of heroes collectively took in a sharp breath at her words. Rin and Riza felt their hearts stop for a moment as their eyes widened. Wait. What had she meant by that?

"Wait..." Riza said, voice tense, "When you said you already had to kill a candidate, what did you mean?" Lust didn't respond. She only smirked. However, that's all the confirmation they needed.

Rin felt his whole world stop. His mouth quivered. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. "No..." Rin stuttered as his voice began to choke up, "You didn't! He couldn't...He can't be...he can't be dead!" Tears were starting to form in the teens eyes. He couldn't accept it. Roy had to be alive! He just had to be! He was invincible! He was the flame alchemist! He was...his dad. And he needed him to be alive.

"Believe it kid," she said, "he and his buddies aren't getting back up again." Rin felt another stab through his heart as he realized his uncle and Havock were dead too. He felt to his knees, his eyes full of shock and horror as tears began streaming down his face.  
He gripped his sword with both hands as he knelt on the ground. His shoulders shook violently. Al tried to place a hand comfortingly on his shoulders and called to him, but Rin couldn't hear him. He was too lost in his own mind and the world around him hand become numb. The three most important men currently in his life were dead, and he had done nothing to save them. If he had just gone with them, maybe they'd still be alive. But no. His father and the two men close enough to him to call family were lying dead on some laboratory floor. He hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye. Heck...the last conversation he had with his father was about insulting his driving skills. Rin wanted to throw up from guilt as he realized this.

"YOU BITCH!" Riza shouted, snapping Rin from his stupor. He looked up to see her fire several rounds at Lust. She knew it would do no good, but she had to do something. She had to make the women who took her Colonel from her suffer. When she had just about ran out of ammo, she collapsed to the ground crying.

"If you're quite done," Lust said, causing her ultimate spear to extend, "I think it's about time to get this over with."  
Rin's eyes narrowed at her dangerously as he was once again filled with a deep, burning determination. No. Not again. That monster wasn't going to take anyone else he cared about from them. He'd die a thousand times before he'd let that happen. He stood up and began unsheathing his sword as the homunculus rapidly extended her spear. The blue flames of Satan burst forth around him as he charged forward.

SHLOCK THUD!

Lust cried out in shock and gripped her newly created stump as he left arm fell to the ground with a thud and dispersed into ash. She slowly looked to her left where she saw Rin was standing, sword ready to strike again and murder in his eyes. "You took them from me..."he snarled, "You took them from me and ripped apart my family!" He attempted to slash her again but she narrowly dodged, jumping back. "So now I'm rip you apart!" If Lust had a heart it would be pumping a mile a minute as he ran towards her. While she could not regenerate the arm she had lost, she could cut off circulation to extremity. At the moment it was all she could do to stand a fighting chance. She summoned her ultimate spear with her other hand and used it to block his blade.

Riza was brought out of her despair slightly as she watched this all unfold before her. Her eyes were wide with shock and confusion as her brain attempted to process what she was seeing. A boy with a tail and covered in blue flames was attacking Lust. A boy who looked exactly like Rin. A boy who was Rin. But now he'd changed. His body had physically changed in a split second! How was that possible?! She was so surprised and confounded by this that she didn't even notice when the flames began to spread and grow, getting too close.

"Miss Hawkeye!" Al cried pulling her away just in time so that the flames didn't touch her...But they touched Al. And for a split second...he felt something. Heat. For the first time in years he actually felt something! He almost didn't recognize it, but he realized what it was when it became more and more intense and he had to back away. It made him shudder as he moved away. What the hell had happened? Al hadn't the slightest clue as the battle waged on.

This was bad. Lust was practically backed into a corner as all she could do was dodge and block him. Despite the sheer force and energy he put into every blow, he didn't show any signs of tiering. He continued to fight with the same rage and vigor as he screamed and spat at her incoherently. She fell to her knees as he slashed her leg. Her eyes widened in fear as he was about to bring his sword down upon her from above. As she looked into his furious blue eyes, for the first time in her entire life, she feared death. Her life flashed before her eyes and she reacted in pure panic. She shut her eyes and extended her spear as fast as she could.

SHINK CHRK!

The blow never came. She looked up and to her horror she saw her ultimate spear had cut half way through the blade. For a moment everything was silent. Riza and Al looked on in shock and Lust was frozen in horror. Shit. Astaroth was not going to be happy about this. Rin's eyes were foggy and unfocused, as if his whole mind had just come to a screeching halt as he froze in surprise. Lust moved quickly, flinging him and the sword to the side to get them away from her. Rin tumbled over himself lifelessly as the sword flew out of his hands and was flung across the room.

"RIN!" Riza and Al cried together. They were about to run over to him when Lust stopped them by extending her spear.

"You humans..."she hissed, "Have made a really big mess for me...I probably won't live to see the end of the day." She winced as she could only image what the demon king would do to her when he found out she broke the sword. "But if I have to go down..." She said smirking again, hatred and spite in her eyes as she tried to stand up, "Then I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer first." She then proceeded to try and slash them to pieces...but was prevented as she was suddenly slammed in the cheek by an impossibly fast force. Lust tumbled across the floor and struggled to get up, but once she did, she felt the fear she had felt before return as she looked upon her assailant. Al and Riza gasped in surprise as they saw Rin was the one who had attacked her. Neither had seen him get up. Both questioned he could have moved so fast. It had been like a blur. However, that was not what was on Lust's mind.

Lust stared at him as he slowly raised his head. She took in a sharp breath as she saw his eyes. They were...in human. His pupil and retina looked like a swirling hurricane, twisted with rage. They were unfocused, yet somehow they pierced her very being, casting unholy judgement upon her.

The demihuman snarled before he lunged forward like a wild beast, attempting to slash her with his claws. She stumbled as she weakly attempted to dodge him. Soon enough, he landed a blow on her stomach, sending her sprawling onto the floor. She bled profusely as she clutched the unsealable gash with her sole hand. She resigned herself. This was how it would end...or so she thought.

The demon loomed over her before suddenly snatching her up by the neck, holding her up to eye level. With his other hand, he crushed her sole free hand as if it were made of styrofoam. This caught everyone off guard. "Rin?!" Al cried, "Rin, what are you doing?!"

The demon didn't respond as he bore into Lust's eyes with his own. She twisted in his grip, causing him to snarl louder and tighten it. All she could do now was look him in the eye. In them she saw the gates of hell opening up before her. She felt the heat of the flames before they even kissed her skin.

The heat became more intense as they really did take hold of her. In half a second she was engulfed in the blue flames. Fire poured from her mouth and eyes as she screamed. All the souls inside her philosopher's stone were being signed away all at once. Riza and Alphonse looked on in absolute horror as they watched the homunculus combust. Every muscle in Riza's body was telling her to run away as soon as possible. After a minute or so, the roar of the flames and the screaming died down until there was no noise but Rin's panting and the crackle of small fires here and there. Lust's body was little more than dust now that dispersed into the air. Rin's hand that hand been clutching her neck slowly closed and returned to his side as the dust faded away.

Everything was silent for a few moments. Riza and Al stood there for a few moments, watching the young demihuman carefully. Riza stepped forward carefully. Her instincts were still telling her to stay as far away from him as possible, but she ignored them. "Rin?"she called, stepping forward, "Rin are you alright?" She received no response. That wasn't a good sign. "Rin...can you hear me?" she asked, taking another step closer.

As soon as she moved, she regretted it. Rin twisted around, snarling and glaring at her. Her eyes widened and she immediately backed off, reflexively pulling out her gun. Al also moved back defensively. This...this creature...it wasn't Rin. Not anymore. It didn't even look entirely human anymore. From its long ears to its sharp teeth and tail, the difference was obvious. But the most striking was the eyes. Its eyes...they weren't natural. They were like a swirling vortex of fury, at the center of which his pupils were a bright, neon red. He continued to snarl as he took a step towards them.

"Rin it's ok!" Al said desperately, "I-it's just us! Lust's gone!"

But there was no recognition in his eyes, only blind fury. Rin roared at them, stepping forward again. Riza cocked her gun and pointed it at him. Her hands were shaking, but she didn't back down. She didn't want to shoot him, but if she had to, she would. She may want to end herself when this was all over, but for now she was still a soldier. She had to protect the country and the people left in her life. She had been prepared to shoot Roy if necessary, had he ever strayed from his path, she had to be able to do the same for his sons. "I'm sorry, Rin," she whispered to herself, her eyes still wet from tears, "I'm sorry, Roy..."

...

Roy strained himself as he reached for the lighter. His fingers were just out of reach of it. He gave up for a moment to rest when all of a sudden it was kicked towards him. He looked to his left where he saw Hughes smiling weakly at him. "Thanks..."he said. As he grabbed it.

"What are friends for," Hughes said before wincing in pain, "but I would like to know what that is for."

"To save our hides," he said, "Hughes, I need one of your knives." His friend nodded and grunted as he reached into his pocket and handed him one. Roy thanked him before promptly using it to cut into the back of his hand. Maes looked back at him in shock for a moment as he heard his friend suddenly hiss in pain and saw him carving into his own skin.

"Roy?!" he cried, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I said I'm saving our hides!"he bit out as he continued. He showed how he had managed to carve a circle into his skin so far.

Maes's eyes widened in realization. "But wait," he said, "How are you going to light anything? the lighter's broken!"

"The gas chamber is," Roy clarified as he continued to carve into his skin, "But that isn't what I need." He hissed in pain. It hurt like hell, but if they were going to have any chance of surviving, it was necessary. Once he had finished, he crawled over to jean and searched for his wound. He could still see him rising and falling slightly. He sighed in relief before locating the exit and entrance wound and snapping the flint and steel together. A bright glow and the scent of burning human flesh filled the air before Jean's uniform caught fire. Roy patted it out before moving over to Maes.

"Wait!" Maes said, moving back slightly, "What about you? You're the worse for wear! You could pass out any minute."

"Yes," Roy admitted, "But there's a good chance I could pass out from pain if I treated myself first. Then you would be stuck without any help."

Maes frowned. "Fine," he said, "But if you pass out before you can heal yourself, I won't forgive you!"

Roy smirked. "Do you really think I'm that faint hearted?" he joked as he found the entrance wound in Maes shoulder.

"No," Maes said, "But your blood pressure's low enough you might as well be." Roy didn't respond as he snapped the flint and steel. Maes let out a loud cry that he quickly silenced by biting his lip. He hissed and huffed as the literally searing pain closed his wound. When it was over he was gasping, tears streaming down his face.

"You alright?" Roy asked, worried his friend might be going into shock.

Maes gave a weak smile. "Who me?" he huffed, "I'm fine...It's not like it's the first time this has happened..." Roy winced at his joke but nodded. "Your turn to take your medicine, Roy," Maes said, sitting up.

Roy nodded, hesitating only slightly before bringing his hand to the wound and snapping the flint and steel together. He cried out louder than Hughes, but shed no tears as the flames melted his flesh together. He hadn't felt such an intense pain before, not even when he had actually been stabbed. Afterwards he was gasping for air, his nerves screaming. He felt dizzy as he began to slump over. His eyes began to roll back into his head.

"Roy? ROY!" Maes said, snapping his fingers in his face to snap him out of it. Roy sat up, reeling back to reality. "You alright?" Maes said.

"Yeah..." he said, "I just need...someone to help me up." Maes did so, helping him to his feet by supporting him on his uninjured shoulder. They both glanced over to Havock. "How are we going to get him out of here?" he said, "We can't leave him...with those homunculi wandering around..."

"Can you stand?" Maes asked. Roy nodded. "Then don't worry, I've got him," he said, letting Roy stand on his own as he bent to pick Havock up, grunting as he did so. He slung his comrade over his shoulders before they began heading for the door. As they did they nearly gagged. "What the hell is that..." Maes said as they heard approaching footsteps.

"I know what it is..." Roy responded as he glared down the hall, "Rotten flesh..." He then turned and started limping down the hall as quick as he could. "We need to get out of here!" he said, "Now!"

"Oh?" an unfamiliar voice said, sending chills down their spines, "Leaving so soon?" They both turned with fear in their eyes as they saw Shou Tucker at the other end of the hall. However, there were a few key differences in his appearance from the last time they had seen him, most notably, the ram's horns sprouting from his head. "I heard screaming and thought something fun was going on," he said, eyes glowing unnaturally, "I'd hate to miss out..." His wicked smile spread across his face, revealing sharp pointed teeth.

"Astaroth..." Maes hissed. So this was the demon king. This was the creature who tried to kidnap Rin and sent that monster after his family. He could feel his heart fill with dread and anger.

"Oh good, I see I don't have to introduce myself!" he said, "I guess I can get right to the point then." He snapped his fingers and two ghouls appeared behind him. "I can't let you three get away with just waltzing in here uninvited. It's very rude you know." "At the same time I can't exactly let you leave, seeing what you have seen," he continued, "Oh what to do...I know! I'll let these two decide." The two ghouls growled as they moved forward, causing Maes and the colonel to back up slightly. "Do try to keep the flame alchemist alive," he said to the demons, "We still have further use for him. The other ones you can just tear apart.

"Sorry," Roy said, reaching into his coat, "But I'm not going to let you use me for anything!" He suddenly pulled out a holy water grenade and threw it at the ghouls. It exploded on contact and they hiss and withered in pain. "RUN!" Roy snapped. Two sprinted away as fast as they could in their condition.

Astaroth clutched his face and hissed in pain as the water stung him. He growled at them as he watched them try to scamper away. The demon then chuckled with a sinister grin as he gave chase. "Did you really think that was going to stop me?!" he snarled as he began to gain on them.

Maes looked behind him. He only had once chance at this. Better make it good. "No," he said, pulling out a holy dagger, "But this will certainly slow you down!" He threw it at the demon and he cried out as it impaled him in the thigh. The demon king stumbled and fell, clutching his injured limb.

"Grrrr...Insufferable human..." he hissed, "You will pay for this! You will not escape me! You will never escape the king of decay!"

Despite his threat the two continued to run as fast as they could down the hall. They took several twists and turns and only stopped when they were completely out of breath. "Ok..." Maes panted, "I think...we lost him..."

Roy slumped to the floor. "Now all we need to do is find the others..." he said.

All of a sudden they heard a woman shout "YOU BITCH!" followed by several gunshots.

Roy's eyes widened. "Lieutenant!" he cried, standing back up. She was in danger! The homunculus must have found her. Had the woman killed someone. Panic started to fill his system, as he felt reenergized. "Come on!" he said, "The others are in danger!"  
"Roy, wait!" Maes cried as he forced himself to stand and drag Havock behind him.

The two hurried as fast as they could until they found themselves nearing a white room. Roy prepared himself to fight that monster of a woman again. He pulled out the lighter as he entered the doorway. However, he didn't fine the homunculus anywhere insight. What he saw instead was a room charred with blue flames. Roy froze as he saw that a boy was standing in the center of the room with Riza pointing a gun at him. But his blood truly ran cold when he realized that he recognized the boy. His shaggy black hair. His pale skin. His long black tail. His pointed ears. The blue flames covering him.

"R-Rin?!" he questioned. The boy turned to him sharply. Roy was horrified as he look into his son's eyes. For in them he nothing but hell fire.

...

"And then you put the two pieces of graham cracker together like this," Ed demonstrated as he slid the roasted marshmallow onto the bar of chocolate and then squished the other on top, "and you have a s'more!" He handed it to Shiemi who had been watching intently. She took a small bite before licking her lips and eating the rest with gusto.

"Mmmm!" she cheered, "That was amazing! Thanks Edward!"

"No problem," he said, "But you've really never been camping before?"

"Well, I did once, but it was for an exam. We had to stake out all night in a forest and complete a few tasks," she explained shuddering, "It wasn't fun. I had to be demon lantern bait…"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Demon lantern bait?" he muttered. He could only wonder what that could be.

"You think you had it bad?" Shima protested, "You're not the one who had to walk knee deep through a moat of bugs SEVERAL TIMES! I felt like I was going to hurl! I still think there's a cockroach or something in my left shoe!"

"Shima, you shook it out and sprayed it with bug spray half a dozen times!" Konekomaru sighed, "There is no possible way there is something still living in that shoe."

"Then why do I still feel something crawling over my foot every so often?!" he retorted.

"Then why don't you just burn it and get a new pair?" Izumo offered.

"Like hell! These are my lucky shoes!" Shima responded.

Ed started chuckling at this. "Sorry," he said, "But that reminds me of the first test my brother and I's alchemy teacher put us through." "When we were kids and first became her apprentices, she left us on an island for a month with only a knife and told us to survive off the land and solve a riddle," he said, causing them to all give shocked expressions, "While there we had to do all sorts of crazy stuff. I even had to eat ants!"

They all looked horrified by this. "Jesus Christ…" Bon finally spoke up, having pulled an earbud out of his ear to listen to Ed's story, "Your teacher sounds insane…"

Ed scratched the back of his head. "Yeah she can be pretty intense," he said, "But she's also a genius. She's one of the few people in the world who can transmute without an array."

"Is she a state alchemist like you?" Shiemi asked.

"No way," Ed said, "She hates the military, especially the state alchemist program. She thinks it's wrong to use alchemy as a weapon like the military tends to do during wars." He didn't elaborate too much. They didn't need to know about Ishval and what happened there.

Shima snickered. All he could picture was some sort of hippie/hermit woman who lived out in the wilderness communing with nature following some crazy zen lifestyle to reach enlightenment. Maybe that was how she could perform alchemy without a transmutation circle because she was so intune with the world. Wonder how Ed learned then... "I bet she won't be happy when she learns that you enlisted," Shima said.

"No...She wasn't..." Ed laughed awkwardly.

"So anyways," Shima said, turning to Shiemi, "Now that you've had regular s'mores, you need to try nutella s'mores!"

Ed crooked an eyebrow. "What's nutella?"he questioned. Everyone looked at him in shock besides Shiemi. "What?"he said, feeling awkward.

"You've never had nutella?" Bon said in surprise.

"No…" Ed responded in confusion.

"How is that possible?!" Shima demanded.

"Well I suppose since it was invented in italy during the early 40's/late 30's it probably doesn't exist here yet…" Konekomaru offered.

Izumo and Shima looked horrified. "Seriously?!"she said, "You can't get it anywhere in the world?"

"This is horrible!" Shima stated standing up, "That's it, you need some education, Ed! Let me go get my jar."

Ed simply crooked an eyebrow before rolling his eyes. It can't be that great, can it? The group became silent for a few moment. Then Izumo noticed Bon went back to listening to his music. "How long have you been listening to music on that?" she said, "You're going to completely waste your battery if you're not careful."

Bon shrugged. "I can charge it in the car tomorrow," he said before continuing to listen to his music.

Ed raised an eyebrow at that. "You can listen to music on that little thing?" he questioned, "How? Is it some kind of radio?" He'd never seen a true portable radio. Well, not ones meant for listening to music anyways. He'd seen plenty of walkie-talkies, but not music radios.

"No, it's got music stored in it," he explained.

Edward gaped. "What?!" he exclaimed, "How does that work? Last time I checked the smallest record that can store music is still the size of a dinner plate."

Bon smirked. "Nah, we don't use those anymore," he said, "Music gets stored now in CDs, which are like really small records, or in electronic files like in this." He held up his iPhone to show his playlist. Ed's eyebrows rose to his hairline as he stared at the screen, dumbfounded by the futuristic technology. He took out his earbuds and handed them to him. "You want to listen?" he asked.

Edward took it and held it in his hands carefully, examining the screen. He was absolutely baffled by the technology in his hands. How the light from the screen could be used to form words and images…it was astounding! However, he frowned as he noticed there were no buttons. "How do you make a selection?" he asked. He then chuckled. "What? Next you're going to say it's voice activated, aren't you?" he joked.

"It can be, but in this case it's pretty simple," Bon said as he took it back from the stunned alchemist and slid his finger across the screen. Ed marveled as it scrolled down.

"Wow! That's so awesome!" he exclaimed, "I gotta figure out how that works!"

Bon gave him a suspicious look. "Don't take it apart! It was expensive!" He warned, hesitating slightly before he handed it back, "Now just select one by tapping on it and put the earbuds in."

Ed nodded and pressed a random song and put the earphones in his ears. He immediately regretted his decision as his ears were suddenly assaulted by the loud music.

"After birth, people live as they wish, Then they learn the black box in their head; is that bliss?"

"YAAAAAH!" Ed cried as he violently ripped the earphones from his ears.

"Hey! What the hell!" Bon said, "What's wrong with you? Don't break my earphones!"

Ed turned on him. "What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you?!" he questioned, "That wasn't music! It was just shouting and noise! My ears are ringing right now thanks to you!"

"Shut up! Core Pride is a great song! You just can't appreciate it!" Bon said standing up.

"Bon! Calm down!" Konekomaru said, stepping between the boys. "Sorry about that Ed," he said turning to Edward, "Bon's taste in music tends to to be more on the loud and abrasive side." He then pulled out his own phone and shuffled through it to find a song for him. "Here," he said handing it to him, "Try this one. It's a lot more relaxed."

Ed hesitated before taking the iphone and sitting down. He carefully inserted the headphones into his ears...and was much more pleased with the results.

"Let it all out, let it all out, You don't have to think your heart is made of steel..."

Ed closed his eyes as he listened to the song, a small smile forming on his face as he did so.


	36. Cry "HAVOC!"

Roy stared at his son, wide-eyed and frozen. His eyes were locked with the demon, and he was completely confused. What was going on. What was wrong with Rin?! He was covered in blue flames and his demeanor was like that of a rabid animal as he growled in a low tone. Maes stood there in similar horror, completely confused at what he was seeing. Rin was standing there before them, but there was something seriously wrong with him. He shuddered as he realized the boy reminded him of the demon king they had seen only moments before try to chase them down the hall.

"Rin?!" Maes said, "What the hell?! What happened to him?!"

"Roy?! Maes?!" Riza said, both relieved and worried at the same time, "But Lust said she..." Riza began.

"I cauterized our wounds..." Roy said, not taking his eyes off of Rin, "Where is she? What happened to you three? What did she do to Rin?" The boy hissed as to make a point and Riza cocked her gun.

"Don't!" Roy said, as Riza took her stance, a pleading and worried look in his eye.

"W-we don't know," Al said, "She came here to attack us, but when she told us she had killed you, Rin flipped and attacked her! He chopped off her arm! Th-then he burned her alive after she broke his sword-"

"SHE BROKE HIS SWORD?!" Roy cried in absolute horror, making everyone take a slight step back aside from Rin. He glanced around the room where he saw the mangled sword in the corner. he was brought back to the situation at hand as Rin growled at the intensity of his voice and moved forward slightly. Roy moved back, eyes once again locking on Rin. This was bad. Very, very bad. there was no telling what state his mind was in at the moment, or if there was anything left of the human part of his mind. Rin growled once again as he moved closer. Riza cocked her gun again, Maes pulled out a dagger defensively, and Roy instinctively held the lighter up, ready to snap it. There was no denying it. Rin had completely lost control. There He had become a monster. Although Rin was a demon, his body was still human. If he set him alight it could very well be the end of it and he could save them all. And if he didn't...the whole world could perish.

He stared at Rin, hand shaking. As he did so, all he could think of was the scared little boy who had clung to him when that cannibal attacked him, his laughter and mirthful face when he had first been able to light the torches on fire, that mischievous look he got when he was about to do something he knew would upset Roy, the way his eyes shined when he got excited...and he lowered his hand. "I can't..."he said, voice cracking, "I can't..." He snapped the lighter and a fireball was sent bouncing off the walls of the room. Roy hunched over, his face in his hand. "DAMN IT..." he growled as angry tears streamed down his face. Why?! Why did this have to happen?! It was one thing to have to kill people he didn't know. He had been able to stand living with that guilt for years...but he couldn't do that to the boy he had cared about for so long.

Rin's brow furrowed and his features softened. He was so angry that his vision was too blurred to be able to distinguish anything. To be honest, he felt like his mind was caught in a hurricane of rage. He couldn't even tell why he was angry anymore. But out of everything going on inside his head, he could still hear something. it sounded like someone crying. Someone he knew. But he couldn't put his finger on it. he started moving forward. Maybe if he did, he could find this person.

Roy's head whipped up as he noticed Rin moving towards him again. His heart raced with fear at first...until he noticed his brow was furrowed not in anger, but confusion. Maes also hesitated slightly, but Riza didn't. She knew the Colonel would never forgive her if she killed him, but she had to protect him. she couldn't let Rin do to him what he did to Lust. So as Rin got closer, she fired...straight into his leg. The demon boy was caught off guard and he stumbled forward. If he couldn't walk then he couldn't move forward and grab Roy.

"RIN!" Roy cried as his son fell to the ground. The demon began to growl again as he tried to get up.

"Alphonse! Keep him down!" Riza cried. The suit of armor immediately clapped his hands and touched the ground. Rin's body suddenly was surrounded by the concrete, causing him to be stuck to the floor. The demon screamed and thrashed. At first the concrete was effective, but the more Rin thrashed, the more cracks formed.

"He's breaking free!" Al cried in distress, "What do we do?!"

Roy's mind raced. He knew a few demon containment circles...maybe one would work..."Al I need you to reinforce him," he said, pulling out some chalk from his pocket, "Hughes I need you to help me-" How ever he was cut off before he could finish by Rin breaking the stone encasing him. He was seething as he forced himself onto his feet and stumbled towards Riza, flame covering his hand.

"NO!" Roy suddenly shouted. His mind went blank as he acted on instinct. He threw his arms around the demon's waist to hold him back.

"ROY DON'T!" Riza and Hughes shouted at once. However, he didn't listen. He clung to the demon boy for dear life, holding him back. The demon roared and screamed as he tried to break free of the man's grip. Flames that had been clinging to Rin were now scorching Roy's clothing, but he still didn't let go.

"Rin..." he hissed into the boy's ear, pleadingly, "Stop this! Stop this now! You're attacking your friends!" He had been desperate. he didn't think his plea would do anything but it did. Rin paused as he recognized the voice. Everyone in the room was surprised, especially Roy.

"D-dad?" a choked and raw voice said. It took a moment for Roy to realized it hand been coming from Rin.

Roy felt his heart swell in relief. "Yes," he said, "It's me...I'm here. Now just calm down." Roy carefully relaxed his grip a little. Everyone watched in a mix of wonder and fear.  
"But Lust..." his voice cracked with pain, "She killed you..."

Roy smiled. "Do you really have so little faith in me that you thought I'd die so easily?" he said soothingly, "Now just calm down...everything's alright. I'm alive. Maes is alive. Havock is alive. We're all alive. It's ok..." Roy attempted to turn him around slowly. As he did so, he saw that while Rin's eyes were still demonic and unfocused, there were tears streaming from them.

"I thought..." he choked up, partially from emotion, partially because it was hard to control his speech pattern in this demonic state, "I thought you were...gone..."

"I'm fine," Roy assured, "I'm right here. See? Nothing's happened to me. I won't be leaving you any time soon...Ok?"

Rin didn't respond. He suddenly wrapped his arms around Roy in a bone-crushing hug as he wept harder. Literally bone crushing. The force cracked two of Roy's ribs. His demon claws tore the back of Roy's uniform as he clung to him.

The others practically leapt into action as they saw this. Maes put a hand on Roy's shoulder and Riza put one on Rin's. Rin let out a warning growl; shoulder's becoming tense as the flames around him returned. Looks like he wasn't quite back to normal yet. "Rin! Calm down!" Roy gasped. They both backed off slightly and Rin relaxed. Everyone stood around awkwardly for a moment, not sure what to do...that is until Rin suddenly became extremely heavy and went limp on Roy, completely collapsing from exhaustion.  
"Alright..." Roy said, slowly laying him on the ground, "Now we just have to figure out a way to fix him and get him out of here."

Maes kneeled next to the boy, a look of pity on his face. "Is that possible?" he asked, knitting his brow together with worry, "how would we even go about doing that?"  
"I don't know, but we have to try," Roy said, "I refuse to leave him like this. He showed that he's still in there somewhere so I doubt all hope is lost..." Roy then turned to Riza. "Thank you," he said, "For not killing him. I appreciate it more than I can say."

Riza nodded. "You can repay me with an explanation," she said, "I want to know what happened to him. Why did he become like this? Was he some sort of human lab rat of some kind? Is he even human?" She paused before continuing. "Is he...one of them?" she questioned more quietly, "A creature created through alchemy? Is that what he and his brother really are? Did you or some other alchemist create those boys?" It wasn't hard to believe. After all, they had come out of nowhere with very little explanation and she knew Roy had been considering human transmutation for a short while after the war had ended. Who's to say he hadn't tried to create life to make up for what he destroyed?

Maes looked surprised by the suggestion, but Roy didn't. "No," he said, "I assure you that both Rin and Yukio were born the same way any human is."  
"But they aren't human, are they?" she inferred from his words.

"...Not entirely, no," he said, "They're half human."

Riza furrowed her brow. "And what's their other half supposed to be?" she questioned.

Roy was about to respond when the scent of decay filled the air. His eyes widened in fear. "I'm afraid we don't have time to explain!" he said scooping up Rin, "We need to get out of here. NOW."

"What? Why?" Riza questioned, "What's going on?" The sound of barking filled the air.

"No time to explain! Just move!" he said moving as fast as he could towards the exit. "Al! Grab the sword and sheath!" he demanded, "Make sure you pick up any and all stray pieces!"

"Ok!" the suit responded. He picked up the half broken sword and sheath and stored them in his armor. He ran after Roy, who was struggling to carry Rin in his current state. "Colonel, you're injured!" Al said, "You're going to over exert yourself. Here, let me take him." Roy didn't have time to protest as Al scooped the demon boy from his arms. As he did so, Roy felt a weight lift off him. Roy sighed before nodding and motioning for them to leave. Just as they were about to make it out of the Room, the barking got louder. A pack of ten ghouls burst into the room.

Riza nearly gagged as she saw them and Al gasped at their state. "What the hell are those?!" she hissed, pulling out her gun.

"Our reason to get out of here!" Roy growled, pulling a holy water grenade out of his coat. He threw it at them and it exploded, dousing them in in holy water, causing them to writhe in pain. "MOVE!" Roy cried, tugging her arm slightly as he headed towards the exit. Riza nodded before heading out after him, firing once at the ghouls before doing so.

She quickly caught up to them. "So," she said, "Are those more of those experiments from the lab?"

"Possibly," he grunted, clutching his side as he ran. They turned the corner, and as they did so, a giant mushroom sprouted up in front of them mouth split across its top and opened into an angry maw. "Maes? Holy oil!" he demanded. Maes pulled a jar from his pocket, uncorked it, and threw it at the creature. It growled as it was doused but screamed as it was set alight by Roy's fire. They trampled over the charred remains as they continued on their way.

"What was that?!" Riza breathed.

"No time to explain, just keep moving!" Roy said before suddenly tripping and falling over. They all did as their legs were suddenly snagged by something. They looked down to see some kind of black vine of some kind. Roy tried to burn it off, but couldn't. Riza tried to use her swiss army knife to cut it but couldn't.

"What the hell?" she growled, "What is this stuff made of? Iron?"

"Actually...it's chitin..." a deep voice called from the darkness, sending a chill down Roy and Maes's spines. A deep, dark chuckle rumbled through the air, causing Riza to pull out her gun. Her eyes widened as she saw Shou tucker enter the light...but he didn't look like him. there were horns sprouting from his head. his mouth was full of sharp teeth and their was a tail swinging behind him.

"Roy...Is that really Shou?" she questioned.

"Yes but..." he said, "Let's just say he isn't exactly human anymore."

"I told you couldn't escape me Roy..." he said, "Now you have the pleasure of watching your friends die..." A black, swirling mass of bacteria encased his hand. "Oh, which pathogen should I use..." he said, "Oh I know! I think I'll use one native to this world: Fossil disease! I'm sure you've heard of it."

Roy's eyes widened at this as he began to reach for Jean's limp form. "Don't touch him!" he shouted. He began rummaging through his pocket trying to find what he was looking for to stop Astaroth. Riza intervened, firing two shots into his head.

Astaroth stumbled back, head lolling for a moment. However, to Riza's horror, he snapped back to attention moments later grinning like a maniac. He chuckled at her shock. "Sorry little missy," he said, "But it's going to take a lot more than that to do me in!"

"H-how..." she whispered. Then she remembered what Roy had said. Was he a homunculus too? How was that possible? She didn't have time to ask as the vine gripping her leg suddenly dragged her towards him.

"LIEUTENANT!" Roy cried continuing to try and find what he needed.

"Thank you for volunteering, my dear," he said, starting to stretch his hand out towards her, "I'm sure your friends will enjoy the front row seats!"

Roy's fists shook with anger as he gripped the bottle in his hand. "YOU GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he shouted, lighting the handkerchief he had stuck inside the small vile of holy oil and chucking it at the demon. He had used most of it in killing the naberius, but there was just enough left to cause a decent sized explosion. Astaroth screamed as it exploded in front of him, burning his upper left side, including his face.

Riza had managed to escape any burns as Roy contained the fire around the demon king, who was now stumbling back in agony. Maes used this opportunity to grab his last dagger and cut them all loose from their demonic tethering. "COME ON!" he shouted, grabbing Havock and pulling a very shocked Riza to her feet. She blinked before recovering from her shock, chasing after them. They ran as fast as they could, the angry demon hot on their trail.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he roared, "YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THIS! I WILL TURN YOU ENTRAILS INTO SAUSAGES FOR MY PETS!" This pushed them to run faster.  
"Get to first floor!" he said, "I doubt he'll risk revealing himself to civilians!"

The others did as they were told and pushed onwards. They ran as hard and fast as they could, blood pumping and adrenaline rushing through their systems. They sprinted upstairs and down hallways with the demon king not far behind. When they reached the first floor, they burst through the door and forced it closed. In that moment, it was as if any danger they had been facing suddenly dispersed into smoke.

They leaned against the door, painting in the bright, florescent light. Light music played over a radio in the hall. they glanced around to see scientists staring at them in confusion.

"Well, I guess it appears my assistance isn't needed after all..." a voice said. They turned to see the Fuhrer standing there with a worried expression. "Are you alright? What exactly happened down there?" he questioned.

Roy huffed as he strained to come up with a lie. His head was too dizzy. His side was once again damp with blood as the struggling and running had reopened it. "We..." he started before falling over onto his face.

"Colonel!" Riza cried, kneeling down next to him.

"I suppose I can ask questions later..." the Fuhrer muttered, before turning to one of the staff members, "Go call them an ambulance." The young man nodded before running off. The three remaining conscious members of the group slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

"Thank god that's over..." Maes sighed. He then turned to Riza and Al. "Are you two alright?" he asked.

Both were silent. Riza bit her lip before speaking. "Hughes...I just saw a man I thought was dead get up from two bullet wounds to the head, undead animals, what looked like a killer mushroom, and watched a boy I knew since he was seven turn into some kind of...monster!" she said in a low voice, looking at him, "Do you really think I'm ok, right now?!"

Maes looked away shamefully. "I'm sorry," he said, "We should have told you about all of this sooner...Roy just didn't know if you'd believe him or not."

"Why wouldn't I?" she questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Because I've experienced half this shit first hand and even I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it entirely..." he said.

She stared at him for a moment before looking away. "Roy said he wasn't human, or at least not entirely," she said, "What is he then, a chimera?"

"No…yes...sort of..." Maes said before taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "He's a mix between creatures, but he wasn't experimented on in a lab, not is he a mix between any kind of animal," he clarified.

Riza's brow furrowed. "If he isn't any kind of animal, then what is he?" she asked.

"Honestly?" he whispered, "Not of this world."

Riza blinked before glaring at him. "If this is some kind of stupid joke-" she started angrily, but maes cut her off.

"I'm not kidding," Maes said, turning to her with a serious expression, "He isn't some googly-eyed space alien or anything crazy like that, if that's what you think I mean," he corrected, "But...He's from another plain of existence. Apparently, there are multiple universes out there, similar to ours, but still different. Rin and Yukio come from one where humans live with monsters called demons, and Rin, well he's half one on his father's side."

Riza turned to Rin, almost analyzing him. His tail had been tucked away and his elongated ears were hidden due to the way Al was holding him. Still she could see his sharp teeth peeking out from his open mouth and she shuddered.

"Is he only like this when he opens the sword?" she questioned, "How does to work? And how did he as his brother get here?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer all of your questions right now," Maes said glancing at all the people in the hallway. Riza frowned but nodded.

She looked back at Rin before speaking again. "Do you think we'll be able to get him back top the way he was?" she asked.

Maes looked down in worry. "I honestly don't know," he admitted, "I only just found out about all this a little over a month ago. I don't know how this demon stuff works. But like Roy said, we have to try."

"Excuse me you three," the Fuhrer said, causing them to look up in surprise, "But the ambulance is here." They nodded and said thank you. They were about to look away when he continued, "Here, why don't I take Spitfire to it for you."

Riza froze. She couldn't let them do that. They'll find out about his tail and ears! They'll know something is wrong and he'll be carted off as an experiment. "With all due respect, Sir," she said, "he doesn't need an ambulance. He simply passed out due to exhaustion. If anything, the lieutenant colonel over here needs an ambulance more than him." She nudged her head in Maes' direction.

He blinked in surprise before he realized she hadn't had temptants explained to her. He couldn't exactly do that right now with the leader of their country standing in front of them. Besides, they knew the government was some how involved in all this with that giant transmutation circle and the homunculi. The last thing he wanted right now was to leave his friends alone in the back of a vehicle with someone he didn't know driving, even if it was an ambulance. "She's right," he said, "Rin's pretty much clean of wounds. Meanwhile, I have a stab wound that probably needs to get looked at. Also, I don't know if you can fit all four of us back there on stretchers. Riza, why don't you drive him?"

Riza nodded and the Fuhrer's mouth twitched. "Very well," he said as he began to walk away. This wouldn't have been the perfect opportunity to take the boy. They could have had mustang under their thumb as well like Marco was currently. But they were obviously on to them. Even if they just took Roy now, it would be too suspicious. Riza would figure out what had happened and reorganize with the Elrics and the two boys, and if they managed to survive Lust so well, the last thing he wanted to do was give them more of a reason to be after them or give them a reason to suspect him. Speaking of, he still had yet to learn how they managed to do that. He'd have to question her later. "Drive safely. Lieutenant Colonel, if you'll come with me I'll show you where the ambulance is parked," he said.

Hughes nodded before wincing as he got up. He began to follow Bradley out of the building when he turned to look behind him at Riza. "Call Yukio," he mouthed. Riza nodded as she watched him leave. She then got up and walked over to the receptionist, asking where the nearest payphone is. She was directed down the hall. After inserting a few coins she dialed Falman. "Hello?" his voice rung out.

"Falman, it's me," she said, "Is Yukio still there?"

"Yeah, he just got done taking care of your dog," he said, "The kid's a miracle worker, he got the little guy back on his feet in no time."

Riza smiled briefly. "That's good to hear," she said, "But I need to speak to him." Falman complied and handed the phone off to him.

"Hey is something wrong?" he said.

"A lot of things are, I'm afraid," she said, "We were investigating Lab three when we were attacked. We need you back at the hospital asap. Hughes, Havock, and the Colonel are all injured...and your brother..."

"What's wrong with him?!" Yukio questioned, voice tense, "What happened to by brother? Is he..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"He's not dead, don't worry," Riza assured, "But...he thought your father had died for a while and went ballistic...his sword broke." Riza could feel him freeze up on the other end.

"Wh-what?" he breathed, sounding like he was about to break down.

"We managed to calm him down, but we need you the hospital to figure this out. Can you get there quickly?" she continued.  
"Of course!" Yukio said, "I'll leave right now!" With that, he hung up.

Riza turned back to Alphonse. "Come on," she said, "We have to go meet Yukio at the hospital." The suit of armor nodded before heading after her. After they got into the car, they began driving after the ambulance. It was mostly quiet. Every so often, Riza would glance back at Al and Rin in the back seat. Her gaze would linger on Rin. He looked so peaceful but at any moment she knew that he could just explode at them again. For some reason though, she wasn't afraid. At least, she wasn't afraid he would attack them. She was more afraid whether he'd be stuck like this forever.


	37. Truth makes all things plain

"WHAT?!" the demon king screeched, "SHE BROKE IT?!" Pride didn't even flinch as the demon shouted at him. However, Envy did from where he had been sitting on a pipe, far away. Wrath moved back defensively as well, but Gluttony was to distraught at the loss of his Lust to be able to do or say much.

"L-Lust…"he whimpered pathetically, wrapping his arms around himself, "I want my Lust…"

Envy looked away from him, once again focusing on the scene before him. He was glad he hadn't been the one to deliver the news to the demon.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the sword had been damaged in his battle between Lust and the son of Satan," he repeated grimly, "they managed to leave with the remains of it."

Astaroth roared in fury, grabbing Pride by the shirt and holding his small form up. He glared daggers at the homunculus. "You little runt!" he snarled, "WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING?! YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM!" Astaroth wanted to rip his head off. He and his father had waited for centuries to find this kind of opportunity to enter the mortal realm...and these imbeciles ruined everything! He wanted to see them suffer...he wanted to see them all screaming as their insides were turned to soup and their bodies rotted away before their very eyes. He had half a mind to do that to the homunculus in his hands at this very moment, but he was stopped as he was suddenly pierced with a spike through his shoulder.

"That's enough, Astaroth," Father said, narrowing his eyes at him, "You are here to serve me, and I do not appreciate you manhandling one of my strongest children. Now let go of Pride and let him finish explaining."

Astaroth gritted his teeth. He was sick of this. He was sick of playing servant. Oh how he longed to rip the man's face off. However, he had to keep up appearances. If there was any chance he could still use them to reach their goal, he needed to restrain himself. Besides...father was a formidable opponent. More than a match for him anyways. "I apologize, Father, sir," Astaroth said in the most humble voice he could manage, while releasing the smaller homunculus, "Please, do continue…"

Pride glared at him before dusting off his shirt. "As I was about to say," he said, "I couldn't interfere without revealing myself. Then we would lose our best form of reconnaissance on them. Speaking of which, although the sword has been damaged, I heard Mustang say he was going to fix the sword. Although he may not have the means himself, he may have outside help from the one that brought the boys here in the first place."

Astaroth nodded, still glaring at the homunculi, but ultimately relieved. They still had a chance. their plan could still work. He just had to keep his temper under control...

….

Riza sat next to Roy who was lying in a hospital bed. Her leg was crossed and she was reading a book, but every so often she would glance over to him impatiently and he foot twitched rhythmically. They met Yukio once they arrived at the hospital and they got Rin into a special room where Yukio prepared some kind of circle on the floor beneath Rin's bed. He explained that it was some kind of containment circle incase he went berserk again. It wouldn't hold him indefinitely, but it would give them more than enough time to knock him out again. Riza gain some comfort in that, enough to leave him alone while she waited for Roy to wake up.

She had already had the basics of the situation explained to her by Yukio. She was pleased to find the truth of their lives wasn't too far off from what she had been told: their father was a monster and they were given to Roy to escape persecution. However, some key details had been left out. For instance, their father was literally a monster, and they hadn't just hopped over to another country, but a different dimension. She had also learned why Roy wouldn't think she would have believed him: up until hours ago, she wouldn't have been able to see any of these demon creatures. Yukio proved this by showing her Kuro.

To say that she had been stunned would be a bit of an understatement, but in truth, she supposed it all made sense. Why Roy would sometimes glance around a room warily, why Hayate was absolutely petrified of the cat, and so on. But she still had questions for the man, and so she sat beside him, waiting for him to wake up.

She heard a light groan as he stirred. She closed her book and turned to him as he slowly woke up.

He blinked awake and looked up at her. "Riza?" he questioned, blinking blearily, "Where…" He trailed off as he slowly sat up.

"You passed out as we got out of the basement, Sir," she explained, "You were brought here via ambulance."

Roy nodded before his eyes widened. "Where's Rin?" he questioned.

"Still unconscious and currently locked up in a room in some kind of barrier circle," she said. Roy nodded. There was a momentary pause before anyone spoke again.

"So...I assume you're here for more than just to check up on me…" Roy said, preparing himself for what she was going to say.

"Yes, although Maes and Yukio explained most of it, I still have some questions for you...along with some other strong words," she said.

Roy sighed and looked away. "Alright…" he said, "Let's get the worst part over with first…"

Riza glared at him. "I don't appreciate you treating this with such little care, Sir," she said, crossing her arms as he turned to him, "You've been lying to me about these boy for years, this isn't some simple matter!"

"I know," Roy said, "But you wouldn't have understood-"

"I could have if you had shown me," she said, "You could have let Kuro scratch me or something if you needed! I could have helped you, or least have been better equipped to protect myself. If you knew we were fighting demons, you should have explained this all to us, first thing! What if one of those things goes after Breda, Havock, Fuery, or Falman? How are they going to defend themselves?"

"I didn't want to give you a temptant for several reasons," Roy said, "First of all, a temptant is more than just a flesh wound. There can be all sorts of side effects depending on the demon. With certain fire demons the feeling of burning won't stop until specially treated. With the wound you received, it will almost immediately become infected unless you're given holy water like I did for you." "And secondly…" he said, "Demons are more attracted to those with temptants. I didn't want you or the others becoming targets."

Riza's eyes softened slightly, but she didn't immediately forgive him. "Well, we're targets now, so there's no point in hiding anything," she said, "Besides…We promised to watch each other's backs. I can't do that if I can't see the danger coming."

Roy looked up into her eyes. They held each other's gaze for a moment. He then smiled. "I'm sorry, lieutenant," he said, "I won't keep you from keeping your promise in the future."

She nodded in response. "So now I have a few more questions for you," she said, "That 'experiment' that attacked us, what was it really?"

Roy looked down. "It's a creature called a neberious," he explained, "It's an artificial demon created by sewing different parts of other demons together. I believe Shou was the one that made it, but the designs aren't originally his."

"How fitting," Riza muttered, "And what of Tucker? What is he actually?"

"He's being possessed by a powerful demon called Astaroth," he explained, "Astaroth is the demon king of Rot. There are eight in total."

Riza furrowed her brow but nodded. "And what of the person that attacked and captured Rin and Edward?" she questioned, "Did you know who he was?"

Roy sighed. "Sort of…" he admitted, "That was Amaimon, the demon king of Earth."

Riza's eyes widened slightly. "Sir how many of these kings are we fighting?" she questioned.

"Only one so far," he assured, "From what I understand, Amaimon isn't something we have to worry about. He was just retrieving Rin and Edward for his brother. Fullmetal apparently owed him a favor."

Riza raised her eyebrow. "And who is this brother?" she asked, "Do I need to worry about him?"

"I don't think so," Roy said, "His name is Mephisto Pheles, a demon who rules over time and space. He can be a real pain in the ass at times, but he has also been very helpful."

"I think Yukio mentioned him…" Riza noted, "Wasn't he the one who brought the two over the through the gate in the first place?" Roy nodded. "Does that mean he's on our side?" she questioned.

"I'm afraid I don't know that," Roy responded with a sigh, "From what I understand of demons, they never do things out of the goodness of their heart. He wouldn't be helping us if he didn't have something to gain. Due to his recent actions, I'm thinking he's got a separate agenda."

Riza frowned and looked away for a second before her last question came to mind. "What was the favor he had Ed perform?" she asked.

"Apparently, Mephisto brought more people through the gate and he's looking after them," Roy explained.

Riza's eyebrows touched her forehead. "How many?" she questioned.

Roy shook his head and shrugged. "Can't say. I do know they're exorcists, though whether they're here to help us specifically I don't know. For all I know he could just be having him teach them alchemy so he has access to it back in Assiah."

Riza nodded. There was a pause before she spoke again. "There was another reason why I was waiting for you to wake up," she admitted, "Rin's sword. It still needs to be fixed. We were waiting for you because you know the most about it. Do you think you can stand and walk around?"

Roy grimaced but nodded. He didn't know how helpful he could be, but he had to at least try. He bit his lip as he got up, still very sore despite being healed with alkahestry, and Riza helped him to the door. He walked on his own from then on, his steps filled with both a purpose and apprehension. If there was a god out there, he hoped he was listening, because despite his calm demeanor, Roy was desperately praying that they could fix this.

…

Yukio tapped his fingers on his desk as he filled out paperwork. He glanced to the side every s often to look nervously back at his brother, who was still lying unconscious in the hospital bed. Al was sitting silently beside him. Rin hadn't even twitched once. The only indication he was even alive was his shallow breathing. That was never a good sign. It made him more worried that he wouldn't wake up rather than what would happen if he did.

Although he was able to keep up a calm presence, on the inside he was terrified by this whole situation. He rubbed his eyes with his gloved hand as he felt the weight of his tiredness take hold. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He had no idea what was going to happen. The sword wasn't just a method of reigning in Rin's powers, but a part of his being. If it was damaged beyond repair, what did that mean for Rin? He didn't want to think about it, but it was all he was capable of thinking about at the moment.

He remembered how he felt when he first came in. He had frozen in shock when he saw Rin's limp form. Though he peaceful in this state, it was disturbing to see his brother so...inhuman. And that chi he emitted...it had been unsettling before but now...just standing close to him made him feel like running away and hiding, even when passed out.

Yukio finally gave up trying to distract himself. He turned in his swivel chair to look at his brother, resting his chin on his folded hands, as he did so, he went over all their options in his head. There weren't many, as he didn't even know where to begin to start with this. However, he knew which option they had to avoid at all cost...killing him. Yukio didn't know what he would do if it came to that. At the same time he didn't know how he could let him live in such a state. Beyond him being dangerous, there was no telling how the damage to the sword was affecting him otherwise. Who knows what pain he was in.

All of a sudden there was a click as the door opened Yukio turned to it and smiled for the first time in a while as he saw his father step through the door. "Dad," he breathed, "You have no idea how happy I am that you're finally awake…" He had been terrified when he had found out that Roy had been stabbed. Thankfully his wound had been an easy fix, but it still had given him quite the scare.

"I agree," he said, "I don't know how long I was out, but I hope nothing happened during that time."

"Rin hasn't moved an inch if that's what you're wondering," Yukio explained, though his look was concerning, "His breathing has been shallow and he hasn't moved a muscle."

Roy frowned, concern deep in his eyes. "Then we better get started on figuring this out…" he muttered, "What ideas do you have so far?"

"Not many I'm afraid," he said, "But we do understand that if we want to fix the sword we'd have to completely remake it, correct?"

Roy nodded grimly. "We'd have to melt it down and reshape it," he said.

Riza folded her arms. "I don't suppose you know a reliable blacksmith…" she thought aloud.

"I don't think there's a blacksmith in the world who could help us…" Roy said, "Beyond trust, I don't know if there's a special process that goes into making a demon slaying sword."

They all stood around in silence, trying to contemplate what to do next. Do they try to get in touch with Mephisto? Do they have a regular blacksmith take a look? Or do they just give up and leave Rin like this, hoping for the best? To be honest, not of their options looked good. The situation seemed desperate. That is until Al spoke up.

"Hey…" he said, "I know this may sound stupid, but…" he started, "What if we put it back together using alchemy?" They were all quiet as the realization dawned on them. Why hadn't they thought of that? Al took their silence as disbelief at his suggestion and bowed his head. "I know it's a little too simple..," he said, "But I know how to transmute without a circle now, so I might be able to fix it…Plus we have all the pieces..."

"It's not stupid Alphonse…" Roy interjected, "It's just none of us had thought of that yet...surprisingly…" He brought a hand to his chin. "I suppose it could work…" he thought aloud, "At least we could keep it from getting any worse…"

"It's worth a try," Riza said with a shrug, "It can't exactly make things worse."

Yukio and Al nodded before Yukio brought the sword out from where it had been hidden and set it on the floor. "Whenever you're ready Al," Yukio said.

Al knelt down in front of it, hesitating slightly. He really hoped this would work. He wanted Rin back to normal. He never wanted to see Rin like how he had been ever again. He had been terrifying...like a monster. Even when Roy had calmed him down it had felt like he could snap again at any second. All he wanted was to see Rin smile again and joke around like a normal person. And so he steeled himself as he clapped his hands, hoping for the best as he touched the sword.

Alchemic lighting sprung forth from it, and the sword melded back together into its original shape. As soon as it finished stitching itself back together, it suddenly burst into blue flames. Al reflexively jumped back. Small embers emerged from Rin's form and grew slightly. For the first time for the past eight hours, he groaned in his sleep and his eyes fluttered for a moment. Everyone present in the room sucked in a breath and slowly released it afterwards as they watched Rin's breathing become more regular.

"Well that means it at least helped…" Roy sighed.

"Now to see if it worked completely," Yukio said as he picked up the sheath and slowly slid the sword inside. As he did so, the flames dispersed and Rin's ears and fangs shortened considerably. Roy, Al, and Yukio sighed in relief.

"Thank God," Yukio said, "It worked…"

Riza frowned. "No it didn't…" she said, "His ears, tail and fangs are still there…just less prominent…"

"Don't worry, those don't go away," Yukio explained, "They've been there since Rin first opened the sword and will still be there for a long time. They're permanent." Riza nodded in understanding. Then Yukio frowned. "Speaking of permanent…" he said quietly as he cupped his elbows with his hands, "I'm afraid Uncle Jean may not be able to return to service…"

Roy's brow furrowed as he looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he questioned.

"His stab wound…" Yukio elaborated, "It shattered a vertebrae and cut right through his spinal cord…It is highly unlikely he'll be able to walk again." Everyone in the room's eyes were filled with disbelief, particularly Roy.

"Wait," he said, stepping forward, "Can't you use your alkahestry to heal him?"

Yukio shook his head sadly. "With alkahestry, I can do a lot, but I have no idea how to fix nerves. Something like that would take decades of practice and research," he said sadly, "I'm sorry…"

Roy looked down at the ground, guilt filling him. "No," he said, "Don't apologize. It's not your fault. If it's anyone's, it's mine. If he hadn't come with me this wouldn't have happened, and when he wakes up I'll be the one to tell him. It's the least I can do."

Yukio looked surprised but Riza wasn't. "You sure you want to do that Dad?" he questioned.

Roy nodded. "He's one of my men. I lead him into battle. It's my responsibility," he explained.

Yukio nodded. "Alright," he said, "I don't think he's awake yet. I'll let you know when he or Rin wakes up." With that, the two headed out the door and down the hall.

Yukio and Al were left alone in the room. They stood in awkward silence for a moments before Yukio spoke again. "You're still worried, aren't you?" he questioned.

Al turned to him for a second before looking down and nodding.

"Yukio...what if this happens to him again? What if we can't calm him down?" Al questioned, clenching his fists. "What are we going to do?" he asked looking up at the twin.

Yukio sighed, his eyes weary. "I don't know, Alphonse," he said, "I don't know how we could go about preventing something like this from happening...but I don't believe we'll be unable to stop it." "We know what to do next time, and we can be prepared…" Yukio said, "We just have to remember that Rin cares for us as much as we do for him, no matter what. We can't judge him by this."

Al nodded. "I know...and I care about him too. I know he would never knowingly attack us like that. To be honest, I know he would even risk his life for Ed and me," he said, "...but I still feel scared."

Yukio placed a sympathetic hand on Al's shoulder. "Trust me Al," he said, "you aren't the only one who's worried…"

….

Envy walked down the hall grumbling to himself. Stupid Wrath...he wouldn't even punish them for sneaking into the lab. He knew they had to keep them alive, but it was like he didn't even care that the brat killed Lust! Envy clenched his fists. While he had never been very mushy gushy close with any of his family members, he and Lust were fairly close. He genuinely enjoyed her company. She understood him better than even father. But now she was gone. That brat burned her alive, and Wrath wouldn't even let him off one of the kid's friends as just desserts. Seriously, how bad would it really be if he killed the Havock guy under the cover of night? He would be in and out in a matter of minutes and then get to enjoy their sorrow the next morning, but nooooo….

Envy continued to brood as he skulked through the labyrinth they called home. As he passed one room he heard a loud thunk and gluttony yelp in pain. Envy paused mid step in confusion. He backed up slightly and peered into the room just in time to see the demon king throw Gluttony across the room. He could see Pride watching the interaction lazily, legs hanging over the side of one of the pipes, but he didn't look apt to move from his spot to break it up. "You will not touch either of them!" the demon king growled as he approached them, "You can eat any other sacrifice, but if you take one bite out of those boys I will make sure you wished you were never born!"

Gluttony crawled up, hurt, anger, and confusion clear in his beady eyes. "But...he killed Lust!" the homunculus protested, "He took my Lust from me! Can't I hurt him a little bit?"

"NO!" he growled forcing Gluttony to the ground with the back of the homunculus's neck beneath his boot. He then lowered himself down close to the homunculus's ear. "You listen here and you listen good," Astaroth snarled, "The blood of those boys is worth ten times more than every soul in your stone combined! If you even think about eating either of them again, I will dice you up and feed you your own entrails until you choke on them, is that understood?" Gluttony whimpered in response and Envy's brow furrowed. While he was never really close with the larger homunculus, he understood that Lust had meant more to him than any of them. And even if he was upset, he could still follow orders, or at least he could make sure he did. He didn't need to be doing this. Envy was tempted to step it when Pride suddenly spoke up.

"That's enough, Astaroth," he said, although it was clear from his tone that he didn't care if he continued or not, "I believe he's gotten the message."

Astaroth release the hold his foot had on the back of the homunculus's neck. Gluttony got up and crawled away. As he did so, Pride got down from his perch and began to leave. Envy moved to continue his way down the hall as he saw Pride heading for the exit.

As the oldest homunculus did so, he saw Envy's retreating form. "Hello Envy," he said in his usual cold tone, causing the other homunculus to stop, "Why were you snooping around like a common thief?"

"I live here, I have a right to go where I please," Envy responded, "I should be asking you why you let him do that to Gluttony. You are Pride after all. You'd think you of all people would let him get away with that."

Pride shrugged. "Gluttony needed to remember his place," he responded simply, "His mind is weak and clouded by emotions not unlike humans. And Astaroth is right. We came close to losing the boy and his sword thanks to Lust. We could have even lost two of our sacrifices thanks to her, so we need to be more careful to keep them intact. Gluttony in his current state needed that reminder the most, wouldn't you agree?"

Envy's jaw moved back and forth as he mulled this over. "I guess you're right," he said, "But aren't you a little worried about how he thinks he can boss us around? Doesn't that irk you?"

Pride chuckled slightly. "He may think he has control, but he doesn't," Pride said, "He may be a demon king, but he's no match for father and myself. He doesn't have the same power to touch my shadows, as that anomaly is able to. If he thinks he can act against us, he will be sorely disappointed."

Envy huffed slightly. "Then get him to get off my back," he huffed, "I have a feeling he's only going to get more annoying as time goes on…"

"Yes…" Pride responded, "But once Father has the power of both God and this Satan, we can easily rid ourselves of Astaroth and his master. Even if he does take on one of those boy's bodies, it will still be the body of a human child. Place him at the center of a transmutation circle and we won't have to worry about him anymore."

Envy smirked slightly. It had always been in the plan to eventually turn the tables on the demon, but it was good to get a reminder every once in awhile. It made dealing with him worth it.


	38. Petition us home

Rin's vision was blurry as his eyes slowly opened. White surrounded him on all sides. he narrowed his eyes for a moment, trying to process what was going on. He was so tired...How had he even gotten here? The last place he remembered being was the….

His eyes widened in recollection although his head was still spinning. The white room...Oh God the white room! Lust! She had killed his dad, Hughes, and Havock...and was going to go after Hawkeye next. The last thing he could clearly remember was him attacking Lust…

He curled into a ball and clutched his head. He'd lost...he must have…Riza and Al...oh god, where they dead too? Or had she just captured them? She said something about candidates...

There was only one way to find out. Still only half awake, he stumbled out of the bed and out the door. The whole world was spinning as he tried to run down the hall, pushing nameless people aside. He didn't know who they were nor cared. He had to get out of here.

However, that plan was halted as something suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder. He stumbled forward, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Rin!" someone cried. His head swung around to find himself face to face with his brother blinked in confusion as his vision cleared. "Y-Yukio?" he question, "What's...Going on…"

"Rin calm down…" he said, "You're in the hospital. Everything's fine."

"Hospital…." he said blinking, "What happened? How did I get here?" His eyes widened again. "Where are Al and Riza?" he questioned, "Are they safe?!" "They're fine, Rin," he said, "So is Uncle Hughes, Dad, and are alive and well too."

"They are?"he questioned in disbelief, "But...But Lust…" Rin tired to remember what happened but it was mostly a blur. He had been so upset that he had blacked out. He had a fuzzy recollection of his Dad hugging him though...

"Lust's gone," Yukio explained, "You beat her. Everyone is fine now. They're all safe."

Rin's brow furrowed as he tried to remember. "Why can't I remember that?" he questioned.

Yukio bit his lip before speaking. "You sort of...lost it for a while there," he said, "You weren't yourself anymore."

"I wasn't?" he questioned, looking up at his brother. The worried look in his eye made him a little concerned himself. What exactly had happened?

"...No, you weren't," he said, helping his brother up, "Come on. Let's get you back to your room and I'll explain what happened." Rin nodded and the two headed back to the hospital room.

…

"Sever all the pain from memories plagued in vain, Stop the endless woes you've come to know~"

"Find your heart and soul! Break through every wall until you reach your goaaal~"

"Come on, clap your hands and fight until you're finally made wh-"

"Hello! Earth to Fullmetal!" Shura snapped as she plucked the earbuds from his ears, "Seriously, you're almost as bad as a teen from my universe!"

"HEY!" he cried snatching it back, "I was listening to that!" Shima had leant him his phone to listen to music on. While it was still annoying for Edward to figure out how to work, he had to say this device was a miniature marvel! It could not only call someone like a normal phone (though only when it had something called "service" to connect to another phone which was like a radio needing to pick up signals from a station as he had learned) but it could also take pictures like a camera, store music, games (though he had yet to try any), and best of all, store entire novels on it! Shima had told him that one could store hundreds of books on a single device, but he hadn't believed it until Konekomaru showed him with his own phone. End couldn't believe it. It had been like a dream come true! However, Shima's phone had no books stored on it, and he couldn't get any on it while in this universe, so instead he stuck to listening to the boy's music. He had to say, he was really enjoying what they called "Rock music." He really wished they had that in their universe. The closest they had was jazz or swing. He particularly wished they had this song. It really reflected him.

"Yeah, but I need a navigator that can actually hear and answer my questions, so unless you want to get lost in the middle of nowhere, I would really appreciate it if you would pay attention," she retorted.

Edward frowned and looked away, slightly embarrassed. He can't believe he actually zoned out like that. He huffed and his attention turned back to the map in his hands. "What route are we on again?" he asked.

"Sixteen," Shura responded, "We just passed an exit to route twenty."

Ed's finger found the spot on the map where they had passed and looked forward. His eyes widened slightly. "We're only a few miles from Risembool," he said aloud in slight surprise.

"That a good thing?" Shura asked.

"Yeah, it's my hometown," Ed explained.

Shura smirked. "So I guess that means we should stop there," she said.

Ed thought. It would be good to see Granny Pinako, but they really had to continue on their way. They had to get back to Central soon. Plus he doubted she would appreciate feeding another grown women and six teenagers without Winry around to help. "Eh, maybe not," he said, "We really should keep moving on…"

"No way!" Shura said with a wicked grin, "Now we're definitely visiting. I wanna see what this place is like."

Ed growled at her. "I just said let's keep going! We have to get to Central, don't we?" he questioned.

"Yeah, but a little detour won't hurt," she said, "Besides, that sign says they have a gas pump!" Edward looked ahead on the road to see a sign advertising a new gas pump at the general store in Risembool. He blinked and frowned as he remembered from the last time he was there that they had gotten the pump in hopes of attracting more visitors.

He cursed under his breath. "Fine," he said, "But we're leaving by tomorrow morning."

"Fine by me," she said with a shrug. Ed sighed and leaned against the windowsill. Despite his outward appearance, he was actually a little excited to see his adoptive family member again.

…

Rin sat in the bed staring at Yukio in disbelief as he spoke. His mouth hung open slightly as he hung on every word. He couldn't believe what he was saying, but at the same time, he couldn't stop listening. Had he really done all that? Had he really lost it like that? Had he actually killed a homunculus? He'd never killed anyone but a demon and maybe a few animals before…And he had turned on Al and Riza just like that…

Rin felt slightly sick and he clutched the sheets of the bed he was sitting on.

"Rin are you alright?" Yukio questioned, noticing this.

"No…" he said, "I almost attacked my family and friends...and I can't even remember doing it! It's a little scary to be honest…"

Yukio nodded solemnly. "We were thinking about keeping the sword away from you for now," he explained, "At least until we can figure out how to keep it from breaking again…"

"What?" Rin said, "But how am I going to be able to protect myself if demons come?"

"You have your ignition gloves," he said.

"Ok, but what about them trying to steal it?" he questioned, "They did before, so they're probably sure to try again."

"Don't worry," Yukio insisted, "I'll keep it safe. The last thing you need is to be carrying it around with you right now." "Just wait a few days, ok?" Yukio pleaded, "We just want to make sure you're completely back to normal before we give it back to you. You need a break from all of this anyways. It seems like not a day has gone by without you being in a life or death situation."

Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You don't know the half of it.." he muttered, thinking back to the situation with Scar from the other day and everything he went through in Dublith.

"What was that?" Yukio said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Nothing!" Rin chirped, smiling a little two hard.

Yukio gave him a skeptical look. He knew his brother was lying to him, but he didn't push him further. He decided he didn't want to worry himself with what trouble his brother had gotten himself into more than he already was. "Fine," he said with a sigh before pushing himself out of the seat next to the bed and getting up.

Rin blinked in surprise. "Hey, where are you going?" he questioned.

Yukio paused in walking out the door and placed a gloved hand on the door frame. "Just to go call everyone and tell them you're awake," he said, "You really worried them, you know. They want to see you as soon as they can to make sure you're alright."

Rin gave an awkward laugh. "When are they not worried about me?" he questioned.

Yukio smiled and shrugged. "Good question," he responded, "I don't think even they have the answer to that."

…

They parked the car at the base of the dirt road heading up to the country home. Shima and the others stepped out of the car looking around in confusion. "What's this place?" Shima asked, "Are we stopping for the day?"

"Seems a little earlier in the day…" Suguro said, scratching his head.

"Where are we?" Izumo said, "Are we even anywhere near Central?"

"I like it out here…" Shiemi said, looking around with a smile, "It's so quiet and peaceful…"

"It's called Risembool," Ed explained, "We're just stopping for a little while. I'm going to visit a family friend of mine."

"A family friend?" Konekomaru said.

"Wait," Shima started, "Is this your hometown?" "No way! That's awesome!" Shima said, "Mind giving us the tour?"

"Well there isn't much to see…" Ed said, shrugging.

"I'd like to see your hometown," Shiemi said, "Sure it's a bit small, but it's lovely. I'd love to see where you grew up."

Ed looked away slightly. "Well, I don't know if I can do that…" he said. Honestly it would be impossible seeing as he burnt his childhood home to the ground.

"That's alright," Konekomaru said with a shrug, "We can probably go for a nature walk otherwise."

Ed thought back to the last time he went on a nature walk and winced. "On second thought, how about I just introduce you to my family friend," he said. The teenagers exchanged looks before exchanging looks, shrugging, and following him.

…

Pinako was walking out onto the porch with her cup of coffee in hand. It was a beautiful day, might as well go out and enjoy it. Besides, she needed to let Den out anyways. However, when she opened the door, she had not expected to see Ed walking up the path with a small group of people in tow. They were quite strange looking. Most of them looked like they were in some kind of school uniform...except for one woman who was wearing next to nothing. She raised an eyebrow at that. She might have been a little more judgmental if she didn't know she probably would have worn something like that at some point in her wild youthful years had it been available. Though still she wondered what Ed was doing with some strange older women and five teenagers.

"Hey! Granny Pinako!" Ed called, "How's it going?"

"Same as always here, though I would really appreciate an explanation as to why you have a gaggle of strangers following behind you. I can only imagine the story behind the kind of trouble you got yourself into this time," she responded as they got closer.

Ed pouted. "I'm not in trouble!" he insisted.

"Are you sure? You only seem to bother stopping by when you've dug yourself into a hole you can't get out of," she retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"I do not!" he responded childishly, making the other teen exchange surprised glances.

"Oh really?" Pinako responded with a disbelieving look, "Because the last time I remember you coming over it was to fix up your arm after you had busted it again." Edward scratched the back of his head guiltily. "And the last time you called it was because you had landed yourself in the hospital and needed Winry's help again," Pinako continued, "And I distinctly remember getting a call from my granddaughter about how when you visited her in Rush Valley she had to patch you up twice in the same day. Honestly Ed, I don't know why but I'm still surprised that someone so small can get into so much trouble..."

Ed growled, gritting his teeth as the teens chuckled. "I'M NOT A BEAN SPROUT MIDGET!" he shouted before turning on the others, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, HUH?!"

They immediately became quiet, and jumped a little at the loudness of his voice. Shima held his hands up in surrender. "Laughing? Who's laughing?" he said.

Shura shook her head as she continued to chuckle. "Ok, I like this lady," she said stepping forward and leaning down shake hands with the old woman, "Hey, It's nice to meet you. The name's Shura."

"Pinako Rockbell," the old woman responded, "I like your scarf by the way, but I am curious as to why you are following this boy around."

"Thanks!" the exorcist responded, "Don't worry, he's not in any trouble. He's helping my class and me get to Central."

Pinako raised an eyebrow. "You're a teacher?" she questioned.

"Yup, these are my students," she said. She then backed up, allowing the students to step forward.

"Yo, nice to meet ya. I'm Shima, and this is my pal Konekomaru," the pink haired boy said, stepping forward and slinging an arm around his friend.

The boy laughed nervously. "Konekomaru Miwa," he said with a slight bow, "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Then the next boy stepped forward. Pinako noted the peircings and two toned hair. She had expected him to act similarly to the pink haired one, but he was surprisingly polite. "Hello, Ms. Rockbell," he said taking her hand and shaking it while bowing his head, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Ryuji Suguro."

Pinako smiled as she shook hands with him. "Likewise," she responded. The next was a purple haired girl who didn't step forward, but introduced herself politely enough.

Last was a young blonde girl who shuffled forward. Her hands were clasped together as she bowed to the small grandma. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Shiemi Moriyama," she said before standing up straight again, "Your home is very lovely!"

Pinako once again smiled at her. "Well thank you, I'm flattered," she said before turning back to the rest of them, "I suppose you all are here because you need a place to stay for now, right? Well come on." With that the old woman turned and went inside the house gesturing for them to follow behind her.

They all looked around as they entered through the door into the living room. "Nice place you got here," Shima said, "It's really cozy. Not like the dorms."

Pinako shrugged. "Better to be comfortable than fancy," she said, "By the way, if you're planning to stay over, I hope you brought sleeping bags, because I doubt we have enough beds for you all." "Also, I hope none of you are allergic to dogs," she added as she heard thumping down the stairs.

Den barked and ran up to the unfamiliar faced to investigate them. Ed smiled as the rest looked surprised. "Hey, Den!" he said, leaning down to pet the dog's head, "How've you been?"

"Dude, what's up with it's leg?" Shima asked, "Is that some kind of prosthetic?"

"If it is, how is it moving like that?" Izumo questioned, "It acts just like a normal leg!" Ed stopped as he realized he never explained automail to them.

Pinako crooked an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? It's automail," she said, "I know its unusual to see automail for animals, but it's still the same mechanisms."

The teens looked at her curiously. "Automail?" Konekomaru asked, "What's automail?"

Pinako blinked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. "You're kidding me, right?" she said, "Do you honestly have no clue what automail is?" They all shook their heads 'no.' Pinako frowned. "What, were you raised under a rock?" she muttered.

"Hey!" Bon started, but he was cut off by Ed placing a hand in front of him. "They don't have automail where they're from," he explained, "They aren't exactly from Amestris, that's why I'm playing tour guide for them."

Pinako nodded in understanding. "Well automail is a form of prosthetic that connects to the nerves of the owner to allow them to use it like a normal limb," she explained, "They can't feel anything with it, but it allows them to regain mobility and the independence that someone with a normal prosthetic may not be able to have."

"That's awesome!" Shima said, "Wish we had that where we're from. I know it would make a lot of people very happy."

"Your dog is pretty lucky then," Bon said, examining the dog's leg, " I can only imagine how expensive the leg must have been with that kind of technology."

"Actually it didn't cost us much," she said with a shrug, "My granddaughter and I actually built that model."

The teens gawked in surprise and Shura raised an eyebrow. "Really, you guys made that?" Konekomaru asked, "Do you build automail for a living?"

Pinako crossed her arms and smiled. "Yup. And my granddaughter is continuing in the trade," she said, "She's quite a prodigy herself and has recently got an apprenticeship in Rush Valley."

Bon's eyes narrowed at that as realization dawned on him. "Wait a minute," he said, "You said she had to patch him up in Rush Valley… and he came here before when his arm was busted...does that mean Ed has automail too?" The other teens looked surprised by this realization and Ed frowned and looked away.

"Really?!" Shima cried, "No way!"

"Is that why he always wears gloves?" Konekomaru whispered, "I couldn't even tell he had prothstetics!"

"Well I guess it proves how good automail is…" Izumo observed.

"Edward, are you ok?" Shiemi asked, worry clear in her eyes, "What happened to you?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know too," Shima piped up,"I'm sure there's some crazy story behind it."

Ed backed up slightly, trying to think of a way to avoid telling them. Thankfully he didn't have to, as Shura stepped in. "It doesn't matter why he has it, because it's none of your business!" She said, "If he wanted you to know, he would have told you already, got it?"

The teens were quiet after that, feeling slightly bad, Bon especially. He should have thought before he spoke and just asked Ed in private. "Sorry to press you," Shima said, "But could we at least see what it looks like?"

Ed blinked at him before rolling his eyes and rolling up his pant leg and shirtsleeve. The teens gasped slightly as they saw it. "You happy now?" Ed snapped, not liking being gawked at.

"Woah…" Shima said, "An arm and a leg...that's pretty badass, man."

Ed blinked in surprise before chuckling and rolling it back up again. "You know, it's funny," he said, "Rin had that exact same reaction." He then turned to Pinako. "So do you mind if we start setting up here?" he asked.

"That's fine," Pinako said, before biting her lip and bringing a hand to her chin, "But I'm afraid you can't use the guest room."

Ed blinked in surprise. "Why not?" he asked.

Pinako stared at him a moment before sighing. "Edward…" she started, "He's back." Edward's eyes widened in shock as the information sank in while everyone else looked on in confusion. No…that couldn't be. After all these years he decided to come back now? After almost a decade? Ed's fists shook.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"Down by the cemetery," she said. Ed nodded before running out the door, a look of fury on his face.

"Ed?" Konekomaru called, "Ed, where are you going?"

"What was that about?" Bon asked.

Pinako sighed. "You'll have to forgive him for his behavior in the near future," she said, already knowing how sour it would be, "His father has always been a touchy subject for him. I can only imagine how he will act, seeing him after all this time."

The teens turned to her in surprise. "His father?" they questioned together.


	39. To be asham'd to be my father's child

Edward grimace from his place on the couch, arms crossed over his chest. The teenagers glanced awkwardly at the man currently speaking with Pinako as they sipped their tea. Shura had excused herself long before he had returned to the house to unload their vehicle, not wanting to deal with the drama that would inevitably ensue from this reunion. It was hard for the teenagers to believe this was the same man that had been described to them. He had seemed so nice and polite. How could he just up and leave his family for so long for no reason? The only one who truly believed Ed that this man was as awful as he said was Bon. While he hadn't experienced such family dynamics himself, he had heard stories from several monks about having to console families whose fathers ran off or men who left their families due to the stress of being a parent. They were pathetic sure, but not always monsters.

"So Edward," his father said, "Where did you meet these friends of yours? I don't remember them living in Risembool."

Edward simply glared at him before looking away. There was no way he was going to let this guy try and reconnect with him now. He couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves and come back years later expecting some kind of happy reunion, and after what he had said in the graveyard, he didn't feel like facing the man, because if he did, he'd have to admit he might be right.

Thus an awkward silence stretched between them. Finally Konekomaru answered. "We just met him recently, actually," he answered, "You see, we're from out of the country and he's helping us go to Central."

Hohenheim furrowed his brow. "Is that so?" he said, a worried tone in his voice, "How long...are you planning on staying?"

The teens shrugged, not catching the man's nerves. "We don't know actually," Shima said, "We're on a mission from our headmaster. Sorta like studying abroad. We can't leave until we finish it."

Hohenheim nodded, still slightly worried for them. "Well, I hope things go smoothly for you," he said. The last thing he wanted was for these children to get caught up in this mess too. "So, Edward," he said, once again trying to speak with his son, "Where is Alphonse? What is he up to?"

"Yeah…" Izumo said, "Where is he? You talked a lot about your brother."

"He's in Central," Ed responded bitterly, "Why do you care? You didn't care where we were or how we were doing before."

Hohenhiem gave a guilty expression. "Son I…" he started but Edward cut him off.

"Oh no you don't!" he said standing up, "Don't go trying to apologize or try to patch things up now! If you were really sorry, you would have come back sooner, but you didn't! You left us alone to fend for ourselves. You didn't even bother showing up to Mom's funeral, you bastard! What kind of a father does that?!" Ed huffed as he finished his rant, letting out all his pent up aggression from over the years of bottling up his bitterness. Hohenheim sat back and took the verbal abuse, knowing it was justified.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments as Edward huffed. It felt good to let that all out but now all eyes were on him. He glanced around before heading to the back door. "Edward?" Shiemi said, standing up, a look of worry on her face.

"I'm going to go help Shura bring stuff up here," he said as he opened the back door.

"Ed, wait," Bon said, standing up, causing the boy to turn and glare at him, "Why don't I help you with that?" Shiemi nodded as well.

Ed stared at them for a moment before nodding at them, allowing them to follow. The rest of the teens shifted awkwardly. Hohenheim sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected much different…I suppose that means he would rather I make myself scarce for a little while," he said before standing up, "Pinako, do you know if that small deli is still open?" She nodded. "Oh good," he said, "I think I'll go visit it for a little while…"

…

Rin sat in his hospital bed and sighed, lazily turning his head towards the window, gazing out into the city skyline. He hated hospitals. They was never anything to do. All he could do was lie in bed and try to take naps or daydream. He rolled over as he considered doing the former, but was quickly pulled away from that by someone scooping him up in a bone-crushing hug. "GAH what the hell?!" he cried as he began to thrash about and struggle.

"YOUNG MUSTANG!" a loud voice and very familiar voice bellowed from his attacker, "It's wonderful to see you are alright! I was distraught after I heard of your kidnapping and subsequent injury at lab 3, but now I am overjoyed to see you are once again safe and sound!"

Realization dawned on Rin and he stopped squirming for a second. "Armstrong?" he questioned.

"That is correct!" the man bellowed, turning the boy around in his arms, "When I heard you had awoken from the hospital I DASHED RIGHT OVER!" He brought a fist into the air and took up a dramatic pose. Rin gagged as the other arm squeezed him tighter.

"Armstrong let go!" he choked out, causing the man to finally relinquish him. Rin held a hand to his chest as he tried to get air back into his system.

"I'm sorry I was unable to stop that ruffian that had kidnapped you," he continued, now his voice a bit lower and more sorrowful, "I'm utterly ashamed of how useless I had been in defending you. I'll try to make sure to do a better job in the future if you, your brother, or the Elrics have need of me."

Rin blinked at him in surprise and confusion until he saw the guilt in his eyes. Armstrong had truly been distressed over the situation when he came to. He had never been knocked out with one punch before. Usually if he lost it was because someone had managed to pin him or exhaust him. He felt like a failure to his family as well as to Roy and his sons.

"Hey, it's ok!" Rin said, "That guy was a freak, and from the looks of it, no one else did any better at stopping him. Besides, It doesn't really matter anymore cause I'm fine now."

Alex held his gaze for a moment before nodding. Honestly he might have been a little baffled by his nonchalant demeanor towards his kidnapping had he not known the boy...Or if his father hadn't acted in a similar way. Usually when the boy had been in danger due to someone else, Roy would snap at whoever was responsible, demanding an explanation. This time however, he had easily forgiven the major. it made him wonder if he had known something about the boy's kidnapper that he didn't. It didn't bother him too much if that was the case. He trusted Roy. If he didn't want him knowing something, there was probably a good reason for it. Speaking of…

"Alex, please try to to contain-" Riza's voice rung out with worry as she, Roy, and Maes entered the room. The three's eyes were wide with worry but they quickly relaxed when they saw Rin sitting up casually in his bed and Alex sitting in the hospital chair behind him, completely unscathed. They had been on their tows, worried about what could possibly send the boy into a relapse. It would be stupid to think that the problem would be completely gone by just repairing the sword, but it had taken a huge weight off their shoulders to see that not only was he looking more normal, but was acting normal too, especially for Roy.

Ever since he had gotten the call from Yukio that he was awake, Roy felt himself filled with worry and apprehension. Was he back to his old self, or was he just in a calmer state of mind due to the circle around his bed. But now, looking at him and seeing those spirited blue eyes once again back to the way he remembered them to be, he felt his heart began to be put at ease.

"Hey guys," he said, flashing a bright smile as if nothing was wrong, "Glad you could visit. What's up?"

All three of them returned it, happy to see he was definitely his old self again. "Just making sure you were alright," Roy said, stepping forward, "I don't think it needs saying but you gave everyone quite the scare."

Rin's mouth twitched slightly as he felt a pang of guilt. Thankfully, Alex was as oblivious to it as he was to Roy's word choice. "Yeah, Yukio told me," he said, looking down as the three adults approached him.

"Now don't feel too guilty," Maes interjected as the three pulled up chairs, "It's not your fault what happened. The situation got out of hand for all of us."

"Hughes is right," Riza added, "We couldn't have stopped what happened from happening. Just remind yourself to be glad everyone got out safely."

Rin nodded but that still didn't make him feel entirely better. It was then that Roy spoke up. "Armstrong," Roy said, "Do you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes? I'd like to have a few words with my son."

"Yeah, come on, Major!" Hughes said, "You wanna come with me to check on Elicia? She's made some real progress with physical therapy!" The large man nodded before leaving with the lieutenant colonel.

Roy then turned back to Rin, a much more worried expression on his face. "Rin, are you alright?" he asked.

Rin huffed. "I'm fine," he said, "I'm not going to turn into another crazed demon monster again in the next five minutes if that's what you're asking."

"I wasn't asking that," Roy said, "I was asking if you were feeling alright emotionally as well as physically." "You've been through a lot recently. In the past few months you've nearly died half a dozen times," he said, "On top of that, when the sword was broken it was like you were in a coma, so we want to know if you really are feeling healthy."

Rin blinked before grinning. "I promise you, I'm fine Dad," he said, "honest."

Roy nodded before continuing. "Rin...do you remember anything from what happened?" he asked, "Anything at all?"

Rin shook his head, smile fading again. "Not really," he said, "The last thing I remember was someone hugging me, which I assume was you, but the memory was really fuzzy." Roy nodded. He figured as much. He was actually a little relieved that he hadn't been fully aware of what he was doing. It meant that he wasn't consciously trying to attack people. There was was a small stretch of silence before Rin spoke again. "Yukio said you guys were going to take away my sword," Rin said, "Is that true?"

Riza and Roy exchanged glances before the Colonel closed his eyes and nodded. "Unfortunately yes," he said, "I'm sorry, but it would be best if we kept it under lock and key for a while."

Rin frowned and snorted in annoyance. "But I'm fine now!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air, "Look at me! Do I look like a rampaging demon to you?"

"Of course not!" Roy said, "But you've only been awake for two hours. That's not enough time to determine whether you're ok or not."

Rin gripped the sheets in anger and growled slightly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So what, you think I'm some ticking time bomb now?!" he snapped, "Oh look out! It's Rin, the teenage boy who can go ape shit at any minute!"

"You're not a time bomb!" Roy responded, insulted that Rin would assume that's what he had been saying, "But you are a hormonal teenage boy who had just had the equivalent of a serious mental breakdown and has seen people slaughtered in front of him! Demon powers or not, you need a break!"

Rin fell silent for a moment as he let Roy's words sink in. "Rin," Riza said, catching his attention, "Roy's right. You need to take it easy. Military personnel or not, you're still a child. Soldiers twice your age have taken small leaves for similar things as to what you've gone through. Even we're taking a short break from trying to press forward. We're not asking for you to give up your sword forever, just until we're sure you're ready to get back into things."

Rin looked down before sighing. "You're right…" he begrudgingly admitted. "...But do I have to stay in this hospital?" he whined, "Seriously, there's nothing to do here!"

Roy and Riza exchanged looks before chuckling. "I'll see what Yukio can do to get you out of here," he said, "In the meantime, would you like to see how your cousin is doing? She really has done well with her physical therapy."

Rin smiled at that. "Sure," he said, pushing himself out of bed, "Lead the way."

….

The three teens were silent as they started unloading the car. Shiemi and Bon watched Edward carefully as he scowled as he tried to pull things out of the back of the canvas covered back end and throw them onto the ground. Shiemi winced as one of the backpacks made a particularly loud thunk as it hit the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" Shura called as she came back down the hill, "That isn't yours, you know. Be more careful, kid." Ed froze, about to snap back at her but decided against it.

Shiemi bit her lip as she moved to the end of the back of the vehicle where Ed was. "Edward?" she asked, "Um...I'm sorry to bother you about this, but is there something else bothering you? I know you're upset about your dad, but…"

Edward shook his head no. "It's just him," he said, "It's funny really. a long ago I would have wanted him to come back, at least to get some answers as to why he left. Now I wish I never had to see him again, that he had died in a ditch somewhere and I could finally forget about him."

Bon and Shiemi gave him sympathetic looks before Shura piped up. "It wouldn't have worked," she said as she picked up another box, "You can't truly forget about something until you figure out a way to forgive the person for it."

Ed frowned at her. "Oh, so you expect me to just forgive him after all he's done? He left Al, our mother, and I alone! We didn't have anything, and even when we sent him letters, he didn't come back!" he snapped, "You expect me to forgive a guy like that?"

Shura paused and raised an eyebrow. "I never said you had to forgive him, nor that I expect you to," she retorted, "I only said that you aren't going to be able to forget until you forgive him. Running away from your hurt feelings or bottling them up isn't going to make them go away. In fact, in my own experience, it only makes it worse three fourth's of the time. You can only really get past something when you confront it and move passed it."

Ed frowned at her before sighing. "Oh yeah?" he responded in annoyance, "And I'm sure you've forgiven everyone that's ever crossed you."

Shura paused in carrying a suitcase up to the house, snorted, and turned to him with a wry grin. "You got me there, but do you think anyone follows that to an absolute T? Just because it's the right thing, doesn't mean I always make that choice. I'm not Buddha or Jesus or something" she retorted.

Ed simply blinked in response. "I have no idea who either of those people are," he stated.

All three of the exorcists blinked in surprise. "You're shitting me….You know about demons but you honestly have no idea…," Shura started before realization dawned on her, "Oh. Right. Parallel universe. Well, looks like a church for Sunday mass is going to be next to impossible…" She sighed as she picked up the suitcase again and then began heading towards the house. "Thank goodness you're not planning on being an Aria then," she thought aloud as she walked up the hill.

There was a pregnant pause before Edward spoke again. "So…" Ed started, "Mind if I ask what an Aria is?"

"It's an exorcist that kills demons by reciting scripture," Bon explained.

Edward raised an eyebrow to that. "That actually works?" he questioned, "Just...saying random words? That really kills them?"

"Well not random words," Bon explained, "They're usually scripture passages from the bible, Torah, Quran, or Buddhist texts. And yeah it's pretty damn effective if you know what you're dealing with. That's why I'm training to become one."

"How?" Ed questioned, "How do words kill them?"

"They just do," Bon said, "Holy words kill demons. Exorcism isn't really a science. We don't know the exact reason why lines of text correspond with certain demons. They just do."

Edward's shoulders slumped. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected a different answer…" he sighed.

"Do you really not have Christianity in this universe?" Shiemi questioned.

Ed shook his head. "As far as I know, no," he said, "A vast majority of the population aren't part of any organized religions. The only prominent one I've heard of is Ishvalism."

The two shared surprised looks before Bon shook his head. "Well, I guess that explains how the sons of Satan were able to hide out here for so long," he muttered, crossing his arms.

….

The rest of the day passed by mostly uneventfully. Some point after unpacking, Shura decided to head into town and see what kind of pubs were around. Hoenheim had returned later that afternoon and had dinner with the teenagers and Pinako. Edward had been very quiet as expected, avoiding talking to his Father. However, he had been a bit more polite with him. After dinner, the teens spent time in the living room together for a while until going to bed around eleven that night.

The old man approached his son's bedroom, entering through the door and an quietly walking up to the bed. He stared down at the boy with a small smile. He looked so peaceful, just as he had when he tucked him into bed as a little boy. He sighed. He really had missed the boys and Trisha. It had crushed his heart when he had heard of her passing. He couldn't face the boys at first after that. Part of him wished he had never left, but he had to if he had any chance of saving them. He had spent years figuring out a way to stop Father's plan. He sighed. It had taken him so long and yet he was still not done. He reached out a hand to brush some hair out of the boy's face but stopped. It was strange. He had done it so often when he was a child but now...it almost seemed like it wasn't his place.

Van Hoenheim looked down upon his sleeping son before exiting the room, completely unaware that Edward had been awake the whole time. As he stepped out into the hall he heard the front door being kicked open. "Kids! Ed-boy! I'm hooome!~" a female voice slurred as he heard the bang of the door. Hohenheim walked carefully down the stairs to see a woman with fiery red hair holding a tequila bottle in one hand and a sword in the other. But that wasn't the most king thing about her. The most striking thing was her outrageous choice in clothing.

His face became flush as he tried to avoid looking at her. "Pinako?" he said, clearing his voice, "There's a strange woman in her underwear and bra standing in the doorway."

"Bra? I'm not wearing a bra!" the woman giggled as she forced herself to keep standing, "This is my favorite bikini!"

"Yes…" Hohenheim said, still trying not to look at her, "Pinako, please, can you help me get this stranger out of here?"

"Stranger?" the woman said, walking towards him, still giggling, "Who're you callin a stranger, buddy? You're the one I haven't seen around here before!" She had walked straight up to him and leaned on him with the hand holding the bottle while pressing a finger in his chest with the other, putting her weight on it for a moment, before pushing away.

Hohenheim took several steps back, extremely uncomfortable with this. "Please, I would appreciate it if you did not touch my chest, Miss," he said, "I'm not one for much physical contact." He pushed her hand away from his shoulder gently and took several steps to the side. He didn't care what state this woman was in, the last thing he wanted was to flirt with her.

She had caught onto these thoughts and blew a raspberry at him while she rolled her eyes. "Wow, did you actually read into that that much?" she chuckled as she made her way over to the couch and flopped down, "Dirty old man! Don't worry though. You ain't my type. I prefer guys who aren't buzz kills with a bit more meat on their bones…"

The blond immortal frowned at her as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Well I'm sorry if I'm a bit uncomfortable having a half naked, inebriated young lady toting a sword touching me without my consent," he responded.

Edward snickered from the upstairs hallway as he watched his father act so uncomfortable. Although he himself was never one to be comfortable around drunks, it was still amusing to see others have to deal with them. his laughter stopped as a third voice entered the room. "Alright! Alright!" Pinako called as she climbed up from the basement, toting a rather heavy looking monkey wrench. "What is it? Who broke into the-" she started in annoyance before she saw Shura flopped over on the couch with the half empty bottle. The drunken exorcist waved at her with an overly happy grin. The old woman sighed and rubbed her brow. "Good to see you managed to stumble back here, Shura," she said, "Though you probably should have come back sooner, especially if you plan on driving the kids to Central tomorrow." Van Hohenheim gave a look of surprise. She knew this woman.

Shura waved her off. "It's fine, I'll be fiiiine!" she responded.

"You will be without this," Pinako said, pulling the bottle of tequila out of her hand and replacing it with milk bottle from the kitchen.

"Awwww come onnnnn," the twenty six year old groaned, "Why do you have to spoil my fun…" Despite this, she pulled the tin wrapper off of the top of the milk bottle and began to drink it.

"Pinako…" Hohenheim said, "You know this girl?"

"Somewhat," she responded, "She's traveling with Edward and his teenage friends. She's their teacher."

Hohenheim gave her an incredulous look. "She's a teacher?" he questioned in disbelief.

Shure began to laugh. "Yeah, it's great!" she said, "Those little shits gotta do whatever I tell them to!"

Hohenheim raised an eyebrow at her. "From what I understand of her, she's actually a decent instructor when sober," Pinako defended with a shrug.

"I see," he said, before turning to the small woman, "Pinako...may I speak with you for a moment? Alone?"

"Fiiiiiiine," Shura interjected, "I know when I'm not wanted. Where's your shower?"

"Upstairs," Pinako responed.

"Whaaat?" Shura said in annoyance, "You're having me sleep in the basement but I have to shower upstairs? That's not right…"

Pinako crossed her arms. "You might have been able to sleep upstairs had you not wanted a room to yourself," she answered.

"Whatever…" Shura huffed before heading downstairs to grab her things. As she did so, Hohenheim and Pinako headed into the kitchen to talk. Edward raised an eyebrow at thais curiosity peaked. What exactly did his father want to talk to pinako about? Determined to find out, he snuck down the stairs and listened through the door. However, he quickly regretted this decision as he found out what they were talking about: the thing they transmuted. Ed's fists shook as he listened to the conversation at the same time he was horribly confused. Why was he asking her what it looked like? Why did it's hair or eye color matter? But when Granny Pinako spoke again his eyes widened in shock and realization.

"What are you trying to tell me?" she demanded, "After all those boys went through what they created wasn't even their mother?!" He felt his blood grow cold and he swallowed as those words resounded with him. They swirled in his head as his thoughts became a panicked storm. After all this time...After everything they lost...they still hadn't even come close to succeeding?! He shook his head and ran upstairs to his room and slammed the door behind him before slumping to the ground, feeling as if he was going to break down. The sudden noise startled the other sleeping on the other bed and on the floor.

"Huh, Wha?" Shima started, blinking awake, "What's going on? Where's the fire?"

"Ed?" Konekomaru asked as he put his glasses on, "Is that you? are you alright?"

Ed mentally cursed as he forgot he wasn't alone. "No, I'm fine," he badly lied.

"Yeah right," Bon said sitting up in his bed, "No one goes around slamming doors for no reason. What's really up?"

"It's nothing!" Ed hissed, without meaning to. He then forced himself to calm down slightly. "Sorry," he said, "It's a personal matter. I overheard some less than happy news that isn't any of your business."

the boys shared suspicious looks before nodding and going back under their covers. "Well, I hope whatever it is resolves itself," Konekomaru said giving him a worried look. Edward nodded in thanks and crawled back into bed. However, he didn't know how well he'd be able to sleep.

….

After his conversation with Pinako, Hohenheim headed upstairs to his room. He knew he shouldn't be staying up so lat as he would be leaving early the next morning, but he had to speak to his old friend without anyone interfering. As he made his way down the hall, he was stopped as the bathroom door suddenly swung open as a a little more sober Shura stepped out in her night clothes. Surprisingly, her pajamas were far more conservative than her day clothes, consisting of a very baggy t-shirt and long pajama pants that covered her toes. "What?" she asked him.

"Nothing, sorry if I bothered you, I was just heading to my room," he said pointing past her.

She nodded and brushed past him. Hohenheim watched her leave before he realized something. "My apologies, but I forgot to introduce myself," he stated, "My name is Van Hohenheim, Edward's father. Your name is Shura, correct?"

"Eyup…" the woman said staring at him with a less than interested expression.

"And you've been traveling with him for a little while," he continued, "I don't suppose you can tell me how he's been doing, can you?"

"Why don't you ask him that yourself?" she questioned.

Hohenheim sighed. "I would," he said, " But I doubt he'll tell me anything. He's been pushing me away ever since I arrived at the house."

"Well that's not exactly surprising," she said bluntly as she furrowed her brow at him, "You're part of the reason why his life's so messed up."

The human philosopher's stone blinked in surprise, taken aback by her statement. "Excuse me?" he sputtered.

"You heard me," she said, "You left him when he was young. Do you know what that does to a child? It messes with their self confidence and sense of trust. It leaves them without a proper role model to guide them in their early years. Sure, some get over it, but I've seen way too many times in my lifetime that those negative emotions chew them up and spit them out like nothin. The number one cause of over half the cases I deal with that involve children is having a troubled homelife/absent parents. Even if that wasn't an issue, who know what you could have prevented by being around." While Shura was not what someone would call an angry drunk by any means, she certainly was more blunt while inebriated.

Hohenheim's brow furrowed. "But I thought you were a teacher," he questioned.

"That's only a position I had recently," she explained, "My job also includes dealing with people that went off the deep end and getting them back on track."

frowned and bowed his head as he felt himself fill with guilt. "I realize that...And I wish I could make things better for them somehow," he admitted, staring at the ground, "But I think it's too late for that."

Shura shrugged. "While I'm not about to fill you with false hope or anything, you could try checking up on them from time to time," she said, "I'm sure they would appreciate someone making sure they're still alive and stuff." She then turned and began to walk away. "I mean the worse they could do is push you away," she called over her shoulder, "Have a good night, Hohenheim."

The old man nodded to her as he glanced back to his son's room. Looks like he would have to make time for that among figuring out a way to save this country. Still several questions plagued his mind. Who exactly was Shura? What was her job? And how much did she understand about his sons' current situation?


	40. Yorick

Ed awoke the next morning to two things bothering him. First: his father had already headed out. However, he almost expected and was glad that had happened. The second was remembering the conversation from the previous night. He bit his lip just thinking about it. That thing they created...it might not even have been their mother! Despite not wanting to think about it, he had to know the truth. He couldn't just leave the answer to something as important as this up in the air. It would eat him up in side. No, he had to get this matter settled here and now.

That's why he was currently approaching Shura, who was slumped over the kitchen table, loosely gripping a coffee mug in one hand. She looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"Shura," he said once, not getting a response from the woman. "Shura!" he said again, loud enough to get her attention.

She hissed and clutched her ear with her free hand. "Shit, kid! Not so loud!" she grumbled, "Do you have any idea what kind of a wicked hang over I'm dealing with right now?"

Edward frowned. "Sorry, but it's not my fault you got drunk last night," he said, sitting next to her, "Now please listen to me. I need your help."

She gave a dry laugh. "No way, Ed," she said, "Not until the pounding in my head stops."

The teen grated his teeth. "Please! This is is important!" he said, "It's related to the…'incident' my brother and I had a few years ago." He glanced over his shoulder carefully to make sure none of the exwires could hear them. Shura became slightly more interested at that, sitting up slightly.

"I think...I think that thing we created...it wasn't our mother," he said, "Not even close. But I have to be sure. Will you help me dig it up?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do you need my help for that?" she asked.

"Well first off, it's going to rain witch makes my ports hurt so I can't dig alone anyways," he started, "...But also...the last time we were over in that area, some demons appeared. These vampire moths."

"Chuchi," she corrected.

"Exactly," he said, "I know those are weak, but I have no idea how to fight demons. Do you think you could help me?"

She mulled this over for a moment before nodding. "Alright," she said, "Let me finish my coffee and get some ibuprofen in me and I'll help."

…

Yukio finished shuffling the papers before heading out down the hall. It had taken him a little while as he had a few more new patients to look after that day, but he had finally gotten Rin's release forums in order. Yukio smiled. His brother had been so happy to be out of the hospital, even if he would be forced to stay at home for a while. Yukio was just glad everything was calm and under control for once.

…Sadly, as always, that didn't last long. Yukio's good mood was interrupted by Alphonse's voice suddenly bouncing off the walls of the hospital as he cried, "Winry stop!"

Yukio blinked in surprise and turned to see the girl storming down the hall. She had a very angry look on her face as she marched towards Yukio. The teenage doctor didn't know what to do. What was he supposed to do anyways? He didn't even know why she was upset. As she got closer to him, he spoke up, trying to something to figure out a way to diffuse her. "Oh Winry!" he said, trying to hide his nervousness, "What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

She stopped in front of him, determination and fire in her eyes. "Where is he?" she demanded, "Your brother, where is he?"

Yukio blinked for a moment, face blank as he processed her words. Oh. That's what she wanted. He carefully brought his hand up and pointed down the hall. "Room 208," he said simply. Winry nodded and brushed past him, Alphonse following nervously behind. Yukio watched them leave for a few moments before calling after them. "Please try not to hurt him," he said, "I was just about to release him from the hospital."

"No promises!" she called back.

...

It had been a less that easy conversation explaining to Pinako what they were doing without giving away how Shura knew about their situation. It took a lot of vague answers and stretching of the truth to stop her from questioning how Shura knew about Ed and Al. After the twenty six year old had sworn to the old lady to never reveal Ed and Al's secret, Edward and Shura grabbed some shovels and headed for the door. They only stopped as they were spotted by Shima and Bon playing cards. "Hey guys!" Shima said, waving at them, "What are you two up too? What's with the shovels?"

"Shura's helping me look for something," he explained vaguely. The teenage boys exchanged odd looks.

"Ok…." Bon said slowly, sharing a suspicious look with Shima, "But that doesn't explain why you need the shovel."

"Ed's house burned down a few years back and we're checking to see if something survived," Shura lied expertly.

Both boy's eyes widened after that and they exchanged awkward looks. Was that what Ed had been so upset about last night? "Oh, wow…" Shima said, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry to hear about that."

Ed shrugged. "It was a while ago, but I just want to make sure," he said, "Once I hve we can go ahead and get back on the road to Central, so go ahead and let the others know, alright?"

The two teens nodded and returned to their game. "Be careful out there," Bob said, drawing a card from the deck, "It's supposed to rain later today."

Ed nodded and with that, the two headed out the door. As they headed up the hill in the cool morning air, Edward turned to Shura slightly. "Thanks for your help with this," he said, "I understand this is a bit of a weird request…"

"Eh, it wouldn't be the first grave I've dug up," Shura said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Edward stopped in his tracks and turned to her with a look that was a mix of disbelief and horror. "Excuse me?" he exclaimed, "When exactly would you have needed to dig up a grave?! How often have you needed to dig up graves?!"

"Dunno. I think I lost track," she said, "It's for work, don't worry. Sometimes when a spirit is particularly powerful, you have to find the remains of their old body and burn em' to gank em', so I've gotten pretty decent at grave robbing."

Edward stared at her for a moment as they continued walking. "You know, it's disturbing that you can say that like it's a completely normal thing," he said.

"Kid, I fight demons for a living. Disturbing is an understatement for what I have to deal with in my line of work," she countered.

"Fair enough."

…

Rin picked at his tasteless eggs with the rest of his hospital breakfast and frowned. They were the most plain he had ever had. He huffed as he realized he didn't even have any salt to put on them, not that he would have been able to stand the amount necessary to make these scrambled eggs taste good. he couldn't help but think that they probably hadn't even put milk in them, they just stirred up the eggs and poured them into a pan…

However, he didn't get the chance to contemplate this as he heard the door to his room violently swing open. He looked up with a start, almost dropping his tray as he saw a fuming Wßinry standing in the door. "Winry?" he questioned. he didn't get to say much more as she walked over to him and slapped him upside the cheek.

"You idiot!" she snapped.

"Winry!" Alphonse cried as she did so.

"Ow!" Rin whined as he clutched his cheek, "Hey! What the hell was that for?!"

"For scaring the crap out of me and making me worry!" she barked, causing him to flinch, "What the hell is wrong with you?! You get kidnapped and the first thing you do when you get back here is not to come to tell us you're alright, but to throw yourself in even worse danger! You were out cold in the hospital for an entire day! You're worse than Ed is!" "Speaking of which," she continued in her rage, "Where is he? When were you going to tell us how he was doing, huh?!"

"Don't worry! Ed's fine!" Rin said, "He's just taking a little longer to get back…"

"Yes, I know that now thanks to Alphonse!" she snapped, "How long were you going to wait if he hadn't huh?!" Rin growled as he was about to send a biting remark back, but stopped when he saw Winry's eyes soften with tears. "I was worried about you!" she said, her voice wavering, "When you were taken by that demon, I thought your life was on the line…"

Rin's eyes widened slightly as he heard what she had said. Did she say demon? He turned to Al with a questioning look.

"I told her about demons…" he said apologetically, bowing his head, "I had to…"

"I wouldn't have any idea what was going without him," Winry said, "And I know you boys are trying to protect me, but I want this to stop! This lying and skating around answers...I can't take it anymore! Promise me you and Ed will be completely honest with me in the future, alright?"

Rin studied her and felt a pang of guilt as he did so. There was so much worry and tiredness in her eyes. She had been losing sleep worrying about them…"Alright," he said, "I can't promise anything for Ed, but I promise I'll be more honest with you in the future."

This made Winry smile slightly. "Good," she said, "Now I'm going to check on how Elicia's doing with her new prosthetic, alright? Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Rin snorted. "Aw come on...Have a little faith in me!" he said, "What sort of trouble am I gonna get you into from a hospital bed?"

Winry raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure you'll manage," she said before closing the door behind her.

Al and Rin sat in silence for a moment before Rin broke it. "So...aren't you going to go with her?" he asked, "I assume you want to see her too."

"I do," Al said, "But I wanted to talk with you in private first…" Rin frowned and nodded. "Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu know about you now too," he admitted.

Rin's eyes widened as he sat straight up. "What?!" he questioned, "What the heck? Why'd you tell them?"

"I didn't," Al clarified, "They kinda figured it out halfway and then your dad told them the rest." Rin frowned but nodded. "But that's not the big problem," Al continued, "Rin, they could sense you when you had your...episode…" Rin's eyes widened again. "They tried to ask me what happened but I wouldn't tell them," Al said.

Rin smiled. "Thanks," he said.

"But…" Al continued, "They're going to ask you what happened."

Rin nodded. "Well there's something to look forward to…" he muttered. It seemed there was always something to be worried about. At least this was one he could avoid.

…

"So how different is automail from normal prothstetics?" Shiemi asked, "I mean aside from the obvious. Is there less physical therapy time? Or any at all?" The girl had been chatting with the old woman about a variety of different things since Ed and Shura left. She had been particularly curious about automail.

Pinako sipped the herbal tea the young girl had made for her. She had to admit it was wonderful. It was unlike any Amestrian tea she had ever had. When she asked her where she had got it, the girl simply said it was exotic, but she always kept a supply on her. "Yes there is therapy time," she said, "Roughly three years of it, although Edward completed his in one."

Shiemi looked surprised. "Really?! Just one year?" she questioned.

Pinako nodded. "But the boy pushed himself too hard. He was coughing up blood at times," she grumbled.

Shiemi gave a worried expression. "That doesn't still happen does it?" she asked nervously.

"Thankfully, no," she said, "Or if it has he hasn't told us about it. That boy is stubborn and is always trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders…"

Shiemi looked down sadly before she glanced up at the windowsill. Several streaks of water slid down it. The young girl's eyes widened in realization. "Oh no!" she said, "Ed's out in the rain!"

Pinako raised an eyebrow. "Yes, so?" she asked.

"His automail," she said, "Won't it ache?"

Pinako sighed. "I suppose so, but there's nothing we can do at the moment," she said. Her brow creased as she sighed. That boy could get himself into all sorts of trouble sometimes. She had warned him that it would be a dreary day.

"Yes there is!" Shiemi said, "I know what herbs Edward needs for his aches and pains. I have to fill the order for pain killers all the time during the rainy season. I'm going to go prepare them for him when he gets back!"

With that the young teenager ran off Pinako raised an eyebrow but smiled as she watched her go. "Heh…" she said shaking her head, "That girl is too sweet for her own good."

As Shiemi worked with Nee to mix the herbs properly, she realized something. If Edward really is as stubborn as Pinako said, then he might not be able to come back! What if he's trying to exercise too hard and gives out under himself from the combination of stress and pain? She had to find him and get this too him right away. She quickly put her concoction in a small bag and headed out of her room. As she entered the living room, she saw the other exwires hanging out. Shima and Bon were bouncing a small bouncy ball back and forth from across the room while Konekomaru and Izumo were reading. "Hey, do any of you know where Ed went off to?" she asked.

The guys glanced up and shrugged.

"I think he was headed up the hill," Izumo said with a shrug, not looking up from her magazine.

"Thank you!" Shiemi said with a slight bow before heading out the door.

….

"You sure you're ok there, kiddo?" Shura questioned with concern, scooping out another shovel full of earth. The boy was hunched over, looking like he was about to sick. "You look like you're going to be as sick as a dog," she observed.

Edward shook his head. They had to keep digging to get this done before the rain got any worse. it was already sprinkling and his ports were aching. As much as he hated this, he had to do this. He had to know for sure. "It's just a little farther," he assured, possibly himself more than her. Shura marveled at the boy before shaking her head in disbelief. He was stubborn to the point of perishing. She then redoubled her efforts, digging faster. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could get him out of this situation. They hit cloth and a rancid smell filled the air before they stopped digging.

"Whelp…" Shura said, holding her nose, "I think we found what we're looking for…"

Edward held his nose and he gulped as the two hoisted the body out of the pit and pulled the cloth away. He nearly gagged again as he looked at the corpse. Thankfully, almost all of the flesh was gone, but the smell of rot still persisted. Edward examined the bony remains carefully.

Shura watched him do so with a crooked eyebrow. "Have you found your proof yet?" she questioned.

"I think so," he breathed, "This isn't our mother. The bones are too long and look more proportioned to a male body, plus…" He held up a few strands of black hair. "Our mother had brown hair," there was a momentary pause as this information sunk in. Then Ed suddenly broke out into hysterical laughter.

Shura gave him a worried look. "Woah, Ed calm down!" she said, "You're laughing like a maniac. Are you alright."

Edward shook his head no and leaned on her for support. "This whole time…" he said in between short bursts of half laughing half crying, "We thought we had just made a mistake somewhere….that we fucked up the formula….But it was actually impossible!" More manic tears fell from his eyes as he balanced on her shoulder. " We couldn't come close if we tried. We were doomed from the start!" he cried.

Shura bit her lip. "Edward it's alright!" she insisted, "You didn't know. There's no point in wallowing in the past n-"

"Who's wallowing?" he said looking up at her, still grinning. However, the smile was less crazed and more peaceful. In his eyes she could see his mind was at peace.

"Come again?" she questioned.

"I'm not sad...I'm actually relieved," he said, "Because now I know we didn't cause her to die again…" He licked his lips and looked down at the ground before nodding to himself. "And I think," he said, "I think this means we still have a chance to get Al's body back, philosopher's stone or not."

Shura smiled at him. "Well that certainly is a relief," she said, now let's get that body back in the pit." The two then climbed out, ready to dispose of the body again...Until they realized that Shiemi was staring at them in horror from across the field. The packet of herbs she had been carrying fell to the ground as he mouth hung agape.

"E-edward?! Miss Sh-sh Shura?!" she squeaked in utter confusion, "Is that?...What are you…"

Both the exorcist and the state alchemist only had one thought going through their mind at this moment: "Shit…."

"Uh, Shiemi?" Edward spoke up, "I know what this looks like, but please don't freak out!" The girl shook her head and backed away before turning and running as fast as she could. "Wait! No!" he called starting to move after her. He hesitated for a moment and looked back at Shura.

"You go ahead," she said, "Let me take care of this." Ed nodded before turning and running after the small blonde girl.

….

Shiemi ran as fast as she could down the hill and away from the horrific sight she had just witnessed. She could barely comprehend it. Edward...and her teacher! They were hiding a body of some kind! She hadn't gotten a good look at it, but she had seen it wrapped up in the fabric. It was clearly a human form.

"Shiemi!" she heard Edward shout to her. This made her yelp and she swerved into the forest. She trampled through the underbrush as it scraped and scratched at her. Her eyes were closed as she had no idea where she was going, but she kept running. Finally she tripped and fell, rolling off a small ledge and into the creek bed.

"Shiemi!" Edward cried, jumping down after her. "Shiemi, are you alright?" Edward questioned helping her up.

As she realized who was helping her she screamed and backed up. "St-stay away!" she said, "D-don't hurt me!"

'I'm not going to hurt you!" he said, "I just want to talk to you!"

"B-but you killed someone!" she cried, "You were hiding a body!"

"I didn't kill anyone! I swear!" Edward insisted, "I promise we were not trying to hide a body."

"Then what was that thing?!" she questioned, still very fearful.

"...a body…" Edward admitted scratching the back of his head, "But I wasn't trying to cover up anything! I was just checking something…"

"You were grave robbing?!" Shiemi questioned, only slightly less disturbed.

"No! No! No!" he argued, "I was just…" He cut himself off as he realized he didn't know how to explain what he was really doing.

"Just what?" she questioned, "Who was that person Ed? Why were you digging up their grave?" there was fear and worry clear in her eyes. She wanted to believe Edward, but if he couldn't give her anything to believe in, how was she going to be able to do that?

Edward bit his lip. He had no idea what to say to her. Should he tell her the truth? Would she be more terrified of him if she knew what he had done?

"I think the jig is up, kid," they both heard Shura say with a sigh. They looked up to see her standing on the ledge above them. "I Think you're going to have to tell her the truth about what we were doing," she continued as she sat down above them.

Shiemi looked to Ed expectantly. He felt his hands clench as he mentally cursed himself. It was true. There was no way out of it now.

"Alright…" he started, "Can you keep a secret? Even from your classmates?"

Shiemi looked worried before Shura gave her an assuring look. "Trust me kid, this secret shouldn't weigh too heavy on your mind," Shura assured. Shiemi bit her lip before nodding. Even though she knew she was involved in this, she couldn't help but trust Shura. Maybe this has all just been a misunderstanding or something? Either way, she still agreed to keep Ed's secret, no matter how terrible it may be.

"Alright, so along time ago, we lived with our mother, because our father had left us," he explained, "A few years later, she got sick and died. It had been some kind of disease of the blood. The doctor didn't tell us much except she had been hiding if for a few years and that it was incurable." He hung his head and sighed as he continued, "We couldn't cope with her gone, so we decided to find a teacher to improve our abilities in alchemy and attempt the impossible." "We tried to perform human transmutation, creating a human through artificial means, to bring her back to life," he admitted, clenching his fists.

Shiemi gasped while Shura gave him a sympathetic look. Everything was silent for a moment. Shiemi was reeling from this revelation. She had heard of people trying to bring others back to life, but the Vatican had outlawed such activities. "W-what happened?" she questioned, "Did it work?"

Edward hid his face in his bangs. "No," he said quietly, "It didn't. It went horribly wrong. Instead we created a malformed body, incapable of sustaining life."

Shiemi's eyelids lowered in understanding. That's what that was. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "If that's what was so upsetting, then why were you so worried to tell me?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Ed's mouth became a thin line. If he was going to tell her that, he might as well go the whole way. "Well, beyond the fact that human transmutation is illegal, that's not all that happened as a result," he explained, "In committing the taboo...we opened the gate of truth...and paid a serious price for it." He gestured to his leg and she gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. "I lost my leg...and Al...He lost his whole body," he continued, brow furrowing at the painful memory. "He only survived because I gave up my arm to attach his soul to a suit of armor," he finish, "That's why I joined the military, so I could find a way get our bodies back."

Shiemi was dumbstruck, simply nodding at him as she looked on in shock. She couldn't believe it...what this boy had been through. She remembered seeing the gate. it had been terrifying just to be near it. And having to almost lose someone so close to you...well she could only think of how she had felt about when her grandma had passed away and all that had happened after that. Her heart broke for him and she wrapped her arms around him, a few tears falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry Edward!" she cried as she squeezed the surprised teen.

"Wha? why are you saying you're sorry?" he questioned.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that!" she continued, hugging him tightly. Edward blinked in surprise. To be honest this wasn't the first time someone had thrown him a pity party when he'd revealed his secret, but still, it was weird to see her react this way without the least bit of disgust. She wasn't upset by him trying to bring his mother back to life. The only thing that was bothering her was that Al and he got hurt.

"it's ok!" he said, slowly removing himself from the girl, "You don't need to cry for us."

" But it wasn't you're fault...you just wanted to see your mother…" she murmured, sniffling, "If I could have...I would have done so too…"

Ed narrowed his eyebrows at her. "Shiemi, what are you talking about?" he questioned.

She glanced at Shura before looking down sadly. "A few years ago, my grandma passed away," she explained, rubbing her eye. Ed's features softened slightly as he turned to her, more ready to listen. "She and I were really close. I was closer with her than my own mom, actually. She'd teach me all sorts of things about gardening and plants...she's the reason why I love them so much. But then…" She paused in her story for a moment. "She always used to tell me stories about the Garden of Amahara, this magical place where God gathered all the different kinds of plants in the world together," she wiped her eye again, "I wanted to see it so bad, so one day I ran off to go looking for it instead of helping her fix the grape arbor...and when I came back…" her voice cracked up and she had to stop herself from crying again. Ed placed a hand on her shoulder.

"When I came back she had been crushed by it," she cried, "I blamed myself so much after that...If I had just been there I could have saved her...And when here garden started dying I felt like I was losing whatever I had left of her!" "And so I did something really stupid," she said quietly, "I-I I made a deal with a demon…"

Edward's eyes widened at that, filling with alarm immediately. "You...tried to bring her back?!" Edward whispered.

Shiemi shook her head no. "No…" she said, "The demon promised me she would help me keep the garden strong and beautiful forever…but after that, it slowly started taking away my ability to walk." Ed felt a cold feeling grow inside himself as her words resonated with him. It was horrifying how similar their situation was. "I would probably be paraplegic right now if Shura hadn't stopped the demon…" she explained. Ed looked over to Shura in slight surprise, although that quickly faded as he remembered the story she had told him in the desert. "That's why I became an exorcist," Shiemi looked up at Ed with a smile, "I wanted to learn how to be strong like her and help other people like me…"

Ed smiled at her, filled with a deep sense of understanding. He never realized it, but the young girl reminded him a little bit of Al, though definitely more of a pacifist. "I think you're plenty strong, Shiemi," he said.

The young blonde turned to him in surprise. "Really?" she questioned.

Edward smiled and nodded at her. "Stronger than you think," he said. The girl smiled brightly and warmly at him, joy practically radiating from her.

"AHEM!" The two turned towards Shura. "Don't mean to interrupt the touching moment, but we should probably get out of here," Shura said, "The rain's starting to get heavier. We should probably get the cyborg here home before he starts to rust." Edward rolled his eyes but groaned as he tried to get up. Shiemi helped him up and they climbed out of the ditch together.

"By the way, Shiemi," Ed questioned, "What were you doing in that field when you spotted us?"

Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh no! That's right!" she said, clasping a hand to her cheek, "I completely forgot! I was trying to get you some herbs to help with your aching ports!"

Edward blinked in surprise. "Really?" he questioned, "You've got medicine for that?"

She nodded. "Yeah, my family runs the pharmacy back home, and there are several teachers at True Cross that are missing limbs, so when the weather gets bad they go to us for medicine…" she admitted, "But I was so shocked that I dropped it in the field when I saw you two! Oh, I'm so sorry, Ed!" She felt like an idiot! How could she be so clumsy?

Ed simply chuckled. "It's no big deal," he said, "I appreciate the thought, but it's not necessary. The rain will clear up soon enough."

"But-" she started.

"Trust me, It's ok!" he said, "This isn't the first time I've delt with having achy ports, and it isn't the last."

Shiemi frowned but sighed. "Fine," she said, "But next time, you will take the medicine I get for you, ok?"

"Don't think she's joking!" Shura said, "She takes her job as a healer very seriously."

Ed smirked. "I think I'll take your word for it," he said.

….

The three returned home about twenty minutes later. Bon saw them enter the house as he walked out of the kitchen with some orange juice. "Oh good, you guys are back," he said, taking a swig, "What took you guys so long anyways? I wouldn't think you would want to stay out in the rain that long."

"There were a few complications in our search," Ed explained, "My shoulder started to really hurt so we gave up looking for it after awhile."

Bon furrowed his brow. "Yikes, sorry to hear about that," he said, "You still feeling good enough to head out?"

"Yeah, I'm fine to head out today. I just gotta call someone real quick, alright?" he said, "Go ahead and tell the others." With that, he headed off into the house to call Izumi.


	41. More than you show

Edward was so glad to be back in the city. He'd almost missed Central. As they drove down the street towards the dorm he almost wanted to stick his head out the window. When they parked along the side of the road and all got out, the teens gasped in awe. "Woah…" Shima said, "This is so weird! The streets are so narrow!"

"And I don't think I've ever seen the streets so empty in the middle of the day," Konekomaru observed.

Edward raised an eyebrow at them. "What are you talking about?" he questioned.

"Back home, the cities are huge," Bon explained, "There is so much traffic, that you almost never see a street without a car on it, and there are always people on the sidewalks."

Ed raised an eyebrow. He might have had a stronger reaction, but at this point he almost expected it. "Well I hope you don't mind the quiet then," he said with a sigh.

"Oh no! It's fine!" Shiemi said, "I'm used to it anyways."

"Most of us are actually from temples which aren't exactly in the middle of towns and such," Bon said with a shrug, "We just visit the city from time to time."

Edward nodded. "People certainly share more here than in Tokyo…" Shura muttered, "I wish Mephisto had told me what to bring. I could have brought a thin button up jacket…"

"Speaking of which," Ed said, turning to her, "Why do you dress that way? I understand why you'd wear it in the desert, but you've got to be cold."

She shrugged. "Just a precaution," she said, "I use the tattoo on my stomach to summon my demon slaying sword like a transmutation circle, so it has to be exposed."

Edward nodded. "I'll try to make you a coat when I get the time," he offered.

She smirked. "Thanks," she said, "Just make sure it's something I would were."

Ed raised an eye at her as he stopped at the door of the dormitory building. "What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed.

"It means your I think your style is gaudy," she stated plainly with a smirk.

"It is not!" he growled, "My clothes are cool as hell!"

The teens all shared amused looks at this. "Suuure," Izumo said, "Whatever you say."

Edward grumbled as he opened the door and let them inside. He lead them upstairs to his dorm room. "You guys can hang out here for now until I find a hotel for you guys," he said as he unlocked the door.

As he opened the door, they heard a shout of "Brother!" before Edward was suddenly rushed and scooped up by a giant suit of armor. The students jumped back almost ten feet in surprise before relaxing and sharing confused looks as the suit hugged Edward. "Brother! I'm so glad you're back! We really missed you!" the suit said.

"Heh, good to see you too Al!" Edward grunted as he tried to briefly return the hug, "Think you can let me down now?"

"Sorry…" Alphonse said, before turning to the students, "I was just worried about you. You were taking a while to come back. "Brother?" he asked, "Who are these people?"

"Wait a minute," Izumo said, "That's your little brother?"

"Yup, this is my brother Alphonse, " Ed responded, gesturing to the suit of armor.

"Wait, I thought he was your younger brother," Shima pointed out, "But he's huge compared to you! How did that work out?"

Edward growled. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY, HUH?" he snapped, "THAT I'M TOO SMALL TO BE AN OLDER BROTHER?!"

Shima backed away defensively with arms held in the air while laughing nervously. "No! Not at all!" he said, "Forget I said anything!"

Edward narrowed his eyes but nodded. "Anyways," he continued, turning to his brother, "Alphonse, these are some exorcists from Rin's world."

"Exorcists in training," Shura clarified, stepping forward, "I'm the only full exorcist here. My name is Shura. Pleasure to meet you."

"Wha?" Alphonse looked taken aback by her.

Shura crooked an eyebrow. "What? Is something wrong?" she asked.

Alphonse looked away awkwardly. "N-no! I'm so sorry, it's just…" he stuttered, pressing his two pointer fingers together, "Your...clothing...what happened to it?"

Shura rolled her eyes. "Ok, this is starting to get old…" she muttered, "Nothing happened to them. These are just my normal clothes." She then turned to the older of the two brothers. "Hey Ed, when do you think you can get on that coat for me?" she asked.

"As soon as I can get my hands on some fabric," he said with a sigh as he folded his arms.

"I can do that for you this afternoon if you like," Al said, "Winry's out at the moment. I can head out and get it when she gets back."

"Thank Al," Edward said before looking around, "Where's Rin?"

Al seemed to freeze for a moment "Um, he's fine. He's at his Dad's house. how about you guys all go inside and make yourselves comfortable?" he said.

"Thanks! I was wondering when we'd get a look inside," Shima said as he walked through the door. The other teens walked through the door, although Bon gave Al a skeptic look. Shura was the last one to enter, lingering slightly in the doorway, before shutting it behind her.

Al stopped his brother from entering. Edward raised an eyebrow for a moment. "Al?" he asked in a low voice, "Is something wrong?"

"Kinda…" he said, "It's Rin. There's a reason he's not here."

Edward's brow furrowed. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked turning to face his brother more, "Is he in the hospital again?"

"Yes...no...I mean, he was," Al said, trying to gather his words, "What I mean to say is, he's alright now, and he really is at the Colonel's house, but he's not here because he's avoiding Ling and there's a really big reason for that." Edward gave a confused look.

"What are you talking about? I thought they got a long," Edward said, "Did Ling do something to hurt him or anything?"

"No," Al assured, "The reason is that Ling wants him to tell him about what happened a few nights ago. You see, we went to lab three and we found out some interesting information but while we were there…something happened to Rin." "He just went crazy!" Al whispered, "His powers went out of control. It's like he wasn't even human anymore!"

Ed's eyes widened in surprise as he felt fear grip his chest. "What?!" he almost cried, but was shushed by Alphonse, "How did this happen? Is it under control now?"

"Yeah, he's fine now," Al said, "The colonel was able to calm him down. The Colonel was partially the reason why he went crazy though. He thought a homunculus named lust had killed him and so he went into a blind rage. Then she broke his sword and everything just went haywire." "He-he killed her, Ed!" he said in a low voice, "And he couldn't even remember doing it! After the Colonel calmed him down though, he just passed out and wouldn't wake up until we fixed the sword."

Edward frowned and nodded. Learning this sent a chill up his spine, knowing his friend was capable of such destruction…Maybe those exorcists did have a reason to fear him a little.

But Edward still trusted Rin. He had known him for years. He was trustworthy, loyal, and kind. He wasn't about to change his mind about him. Anyone who dared to try and convince him otherwise was going to regret it. "But he's back to his normal self now, correct?" he asked. Alphonse nodded. "Good," he said, "At least we know now we have to be careful with that sword. We can talk about this more later."

"Just make sure not to mention anything to Ling," Alphonse said.

Edward gave a dry laugh. "You don't have to worry about that, trust me," he said as he turned back towards the room, "Where is Ling anyways?"

Alphonse shrugged. "I haven't seen him all day," he said as he put his hand on the handle. as she heard this, Shura moved away from the door and found a seat on the couch.

…

Rin finished stirring up the small pot of beef and barley soup he had prepared for himself. He had to admit, having the day off to himself wasn't so bad. He missed being home. It was pretty boring but it was also kind of relaxing too. He could be lazy if he wanted, sleep in, or stay in his pajamas all day! He couldn't remember the last time he was able to do that.

And the best part was that whatever he cooked, he didn't have to share with anyone. Every time he cooked nowadays, he usually had to make enough for multiple people, namely Ed. While he loved cook for others, sometimes he just wished he could totally pig out on whatever he made and not have to worry about leaving something for others.

He licked his lips as he scooped out a bowl for himself and began walking towards the table. He had a wide grin on his face as he looked down at his creation with pride. However, he nearly dropped it moments later.

"That smells delicious! Mind if I have some?" Rin's head popped up, eyes wide as the familiar voice rung in the air. His eyes fell on Ling, who was sitting at the kitchen table. his head was resting in his hand and he was smiling away like he hadn't a care in the world.

Rin nearly jumped back in surprise. "What the hell?!" he cried, "How did you get in here?!"

"Through the window," Ling said with a shrug, jabbing a thumb at the open window.

Rin frowned at him. "No, I meant how did you find me?" he questioned, "I didn't tell you where I was."

Ling raised an eyebrow. "I can read chi, remember?" he said simply, "And yours is fairly easy to find." Rin narrowed his eyes and grumbled at him. "So," Ling said, "I believe you know why I'm here." He opened his eyes and frowned at Rin. "What exactly happened four days ago?" he asked in a more serious tone.

…

"Cool! You even have a little kitchenette in here!" Shima said as he paced around the small space, "Wish our dorms had that. Think we can get a petition going for kitchenettes. "

"Come on, Do you really think that would work?" Bon said from his place on the couch, "Like Sir Pheles would be willing to fork over enough money for that."

"Aw, come on!" Shima groaned, "That's no fair! Why do I have to walk halfway across campus in the freezing cold just to get breakfast in the morning while these two can enjoy pancakes in their pajamas without leaving their room?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Because I worked my but off to get into the military, and these aren't school dorms," he said, "They're meant for adults who don't have school meal plans."

"Sorry, Shima, " Konekomaru said, "Maybe you can start a petition to allow toasters and microwaves back in the dorm rooms instead." Shima still pouted but shrugged and went over to flop down on the couch.

"Um, excuse me," Alphonse said, "But did you say Pheles? As in Mephisto Pheles?"

"Yeah, he's our school's headmaster," Bon answered, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I just didn't know," he responded, "I was a little surprised. Why is he running a school?"

"To be honest, none of us really know exactly why, but it's a school for exorcists," Shura said speaking up. She had been quiet for some time. "I work there as a teacher," she said.

"Really?" Alphonse said in surprise. Honestly, he thought she was just an upper classmen. She looked like a really rebellious teenager.

"Yeah, though I only started as a teacher last year," she responded.

Alphonse nodded, but still found it slightly curious. Just what kind of teacher was she? He doubted any kind of traditional English or Math teacher. If she was teaching them, she was probably teaching them how to be exorcists, so that probably meant some form of self defense…A thought came to Al's mind. He slowly leaned down to whisper to his brother. "Brother?" he asked, "Is she anything like our teacher?"

"Huh?" he responded, blinking, "Um, I don't think so." He stroked his chin. "No, she definitely seems much more laid back than Teacher is," he said, "But I honestly haven't seen her angry, so I don't know. And considering that she keeps a sword on her at all times, I don't intend on finding out."

"Wait, at all times?!" Al questioned, "How?!"

"AHEM," Shura said, glaring at them from across the room. She narrowed her eyes at them, "You know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back."

Al looked down shamefully. "Sorry, Ma'am," he murmured. Things were awkwardly quiet for a few minutes.

"Soo…" Shiemi said, trying to make conversation, "What kind of Alchemy do you do, Alphonse?"

"Oh, I work with metals like my brother," he explained.

"Cool, is that why you wear that armor? So you always have stuff to transmute?" Shima asked. Alphonse froze for a moment.

"Yeah, why are you wearing that?" Izumo asked, "It's not like you're going to get attacked inside the dorm building."

The two boys began to panic. "Um, it's a hobby!" they said together.

The teens looked confused for a moment before a look of realization dawned on Shima's face. "Oh, I get it!" he said, "You're one of those LARPer guys! Man, I didn't think that would be popular in this universe too."

The two brothers blinked in surprise. They had no idea what they were talking about, or whether LARPing was a good thing or not. It seemed ok…. but they weren't sure. Sheimi saw this and went ahead and asked for them.

"Um...What's LARPing?" she asked.

"Live action role play," Konekomaru clarified, "People dress up in medieval garb and have mock battles and sword fights. There's a small club on campus that meet on Tuesday afternoons. You can usually see them in the courtyard."

"Yeah but none of them have anything like what your brother has, Ed," Shima said, "Seriously, that's some sweet armor. I'm not into it, but even I could tell that the boys back home would probably be green with envy."

"Yup! He's super dedicated!" Edward said, scratching the back of his head while laughing nervously.

"Must run in the family," Bon said, slightly amused, "Considering your obsession with bladed weapons."

Edward frown at him. "I do not have an obsession!" he said.

"Dude, the first thing you did to demonstrate alchemy for us was summon some crazy looking spear," Shima pointed out.

"It's called a halberd!" Edward corrected, turning on him.

"See? any normal person wouldn't know what that was," he pointed out.

Edward growled at him, and Shura stepped in. "Ok, I think that's enough teasing Edward for now," she said with a smirk.

"Aw, but it's so much fun!" Shima said in an innocent voice.

"Besides, there isn't much else to do here," Izumo noted.

"Well if it will help you pass the time," Alphonse said, "I can give you guys a tour of Central Headquarters, or at least the areas where they allow civilians."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Konekomaru said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you guys can do that, while I find you a hotel," Ed said.

"OK, come on then!" Al said getting up, "We can start with the library. That's not too far away." Alphonse and the teens started heading towards the door when they paused and turned to Shura.

"Hey teach, are you coming with us?" Bon asked.

"Nah, I'll catch up with you later," she said, waving them off, "I've got a few things I need to do first." The teens gave confused looks before shrugging heading out the door.

After they had done so, Ed got up to move over to the phone. As he did, Shura grabbed him by the wrist to stop him. "Hey wait," she said, "I hope you don't mind but I need to call up that superior of yours, Mustang, to let him know about the situation."

Edward nodded and wrote down his number for her. "Knock yourself out," he said.

…

He was awake. Jean was finally awake. Yukio had called them while at work and so and Roy had all come to see him. However, Maes and Riza currently were still at work. For now, they were covering for Roy. After he had gotten out of the hospital, he had been swamped with work. They would be visiting Jean later, but for now they were making sure things didn't get out of hand at HQ.

"Jeez, How does Roy deal with this stuff?" Hughes said, forging Roy's signature, "At least when I have to fill out paperwork, usually it's to retrieve a file. This just feels like busy work."

Riza slid a few more papers into a file. "It's usually a lot lighter of a workload than-" Riza started before turning to Hughes and pausing as she saw what he was doing. "Hughes!" she snapped, snatching the paper from his hands, "What are you doing?"

Hughes shrugged. "Lightening his workload for when he gets back," he said simply, "That's what we're doing right?"

She face palmed. "Hughes, you of all people should know how bad of an idea this is!" Riza said, "People will know this isn't Roy's. They've seen his handwriting enough to tell the difference!"

Hughes smirked. "Oh, will they?" he said, "Take another look."

Riza rolled her eyes before glancing at the page, only to take a double take to study it even further. She blinked in surprise. It was a near flawless replica. If she hadn't know it was a forgery, she wouldn't have been able to tell. "How?" she demanded, giving him a questioning look.

Hughes shrugged. "Back at the academy we had a stupid bet to see how many signatures we could learn to forge off of a sign-in list, including our own. I memorized the most, but Roy won for successfully being able to forge the Fuhrer's signature."

Riza blinked in surprise. "You're kidding…" she said.

"Nope," Hughes said honestly, "People never figured out that the Fuhrer hadn't ordered the academy a metric ton of flower to be delivered to the front steps."

Riza gave him a blank look before taking in a deep breath and breathing out a heavy sigh. She rubbed her temples, but as she did so, she realized something. "Wait a minute," she said, "That was years ago, how are you still so good at it?" Hughes rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he realized he'd been caught. "Hughes…" she growled, folding her arms.

"Well…" he started. However, he was cut off by the phone ringing. "Oh thank god, " he muttered before picking up the phone, "Hello? Lieutenant Colonel Hughes speaking."

"Excuse me, but may I speak to Colonel Mustang?" an unfamiliar female voice rung out over the phone.

Hughes raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm sorry but he's not available at the moment," he said, "However, I can take a message for you, ma'am. What's your name?"

"Shura Kirigakure," she stated, "And I would much rather speak to him in person. Do you know where he is?"

Hughes gave a suspicious look. "He doesn't want to be disturbed at the moment, I'm afraid you'll just have to speak with him later," he said.

There was a momentary pause as the person spoke to some unknown figure in the room, "I don't think you understand, Sir," she said, "You see, I'm a friend of a friend of his. One Shiro Fujimoto."

Hughe's eyes widened as he suddenly sat up straight. "What did you say?!" he demanded.

Riza gave a worried expression. "Hughes, what's going on?" she asked.

"This person," he said, "They're claiming they know Shiro!" Her eyes widened at that. "Ma'am, how do you know that name?" Hughes demanded.

"I was his apprentice," she explained, "I'm a first class exorcist/teacher from True Cross Academy. Your little friend Edward helped me get across the desert. And now I need to speak with Roy."

Hughes nodded, relaxing slightly at that. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid he's at the hospital right now, visiting a friend of his, Jean Havock," he explained.

There was a pause before she spoke again. "How long do you suppose he'll be there?" she asked.

"At least another half hour or so," Hughes explained.

"Alright, thank you," she responded before hanging up.

Hughes blinked in surprise. She didn't even opt to leave a message with him.

"Hughes, who was that woman?" Riza asked.

"An exorcist named Shura from Rin and Yukio's world," he explained, "She was apparently one of the exorcists Ed was playing tour guide for."

"Hmmm…" Riza thought aloud, "Looks like those exorcists might be here to help after all…" There was a momentary pause before she turned her attention back onto Hughes. She frowned at him. "Now that that's out of the way, care to explain why you are so good at forging Roy's signature?" She said glaring at him.

Hughes scratched the back of his head. "Well it really was just to help him on really busy days when he wanted to get home in time to see the boys," he explained, "I've just recently gotten back into the practice of learning how to forge signatures after we found out about the transmutation circle. You know, in case we need to get into a file we can't have access to regularly. Roy's is just easy to practice."

Riza frowned but nodded. At least he had a semi good reason. "All the same, I better not see you around Roy's office when he has work to do," she said.

"Understood!" Hughes said, saluting her.

…

"Well, that takes care of that," she said, hanging up the phone, "Well kid, I'm going for a short walk." She went to pull her button less jacket out of her bags and slung it over her shoulders. She couldn't use it to really cover herself much, but it was better than nothing.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"To talk to that Mustang guy. Duh," she said, "He's not in the office at the moment, but I still need to talk to him."

"Ok," Ed said, "Try not to get yourself in trouble in the process."

Shura rolled her eyes. "Like you're one to talk," she said as she opened the door, "See ya, runt."

Ed's eye twitched as he whipped around to face her. "WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' A-" he started but was cut off by Shura slamming the door in his face.

She whistled as she began walking down the hall. As she did, she noticed a young blonde girl standing in the hall, staring at her.

Winry had been returning from getting groceries when she saw the strange woman in a bikini top walk out of Ed and Al's room with Ed shouting after her. She was utterly dumbstruck. Who was she?! Why was she in Ed and Al's room?!

"What?" the woman said, a disinterested look on her face, "Is there something you need?"

"You-Who are you?" she almost demanded, taken aback by the woman's presence.

"In a hurry," Shura said, pushing past her, "I'm afraid I don't have time to chat. I have to meet up with an officer here. See ya kid."

Winry's mouth opened and closed as she watched the woman leave the hall. and head down the stairs. She still had so many questions. What was that woman doing here in a place like this. Then a horrible thought dawned on her. Had Edward…? No, he wouldn't...Would he? Then again, she knew next to nothing about Edward's life. He could have...visitors like that all the time without her knowing. Still, it was hard to see this kind of behavior coming from someone like him, especially when she remembered him always getting so flustered when people talked about him dating one day...

Her fists shook. "EDWARD!" she shrieked as she marched over towards the door. Either way, he had a lot of explaining to do.

…

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Ling snapped as he tried to keep himself inside the house, "Just tell me what happened already!" His hands gripped the window sill as he pushed against the force of the teenager trying to push him out.

"I told you, I have nothing to say!" Rin growled as he tried to push Ling out the kitchen window. LIng suddenly slipped under his arm, causing Rin to stumble and almost fall out of the first floor window himself.

He turned and glared as the Xingese teenager. Said teen brushed himself off before returning the glare. "Seriously, why can't you tell me?" he said, "I know you're hiding something. I felt that power. It was stronger than even yours. If there's another one of those demon kings out there that's even stronger than you, shouldn't you warn us about them?"

Rin paused in thought, biting his lip. "It's none of your business," he said, "You didn't have to deal with it, and you will never have to."

"What do you mean by that?" Ling cried, "Do you realize what that felt like? it felt like evil incarnate! Like the world was going to explode at any second! How can you tell me not to worry about that?!"

"Because it's been taken care of!" Rin explained, "You have nothing to worry about, because you are never going to have to deal with it. It's gone! Now leave!

Ling's fists shook. What did he take him for, a fool? "Taken care of?! Are you kidding me?!" he said, "That chi dwarfed your own so much that I couldn't even feel it any more! It felt like the world was literally ending! And you just took care of it on your own?! How is that even-" he stopped ranting as a look of realization dawned on his face. Rin's eyes widened as he saw this and his heart rate increased. "Oh…" Ling said, looking at Rin with shock, "That was you…"

"No it wasn't!" Rin barked in defense, "It was one of the homunculi! And I killed it!"

"No...it had to be you…" he said eyeing Rin carefully, "Chi like that doesn't just disappear...but it can't just appear either." "Your demon powers...you lost control of them for a while didn't you…" he said quietly, more to himself, but rin could still hear it with his demon hearing.

"SHUT UP! I'm fine!" Rin snapped, taking a step forward, "I am in complete control of my powers!"

Ling flinched slightly, moving into a defensive stance. There was a pause before he studied rin and spoke again. "Your hands are smoking," he finally said.

Rin looked at his shaking fists and was surprised to find that they were indeed smoldering. He froze and quickly unclenched them to stop the smoking before sheepishly hiding them in his pockets. He looked way, not responding. "I'm not going to lose control…" he muttered to himself, "Not again…"

As Ling looked upon him, he felt a twinge of pity for the boy before him. He had always heard stories about how too much power is a bad thing, but it was always seemed to come from a story where someone never realized they had a problem, Never did the story center around someone who didn't want the power. it was always some greedy king who took too much and ultimately had it destroy him. They couldn't handle the power they strived for. But it was clear that the boy before him didn't even want it in the first place. There was an awkward silence between them. Ling wanted to say something of comfort, but he didn't know what he could say. He didn't know what he could do to help his friend, and he was honestly a little scared and worried about what to expect if it happened again. At the same time he didn't want to press him for more details.

"Please," Rin said, "Just leave. And don't tell anyone about this." Ling supposed that would have to do for now. The Xingese prince nodded before leaving the home quietly. As he did, Rin slumped in his chair at the kitchen table, running his hair through his hands. He this is the second time he caught himself smoking. While this wasn't an isolated event, as he had randomly caught things on fire several times as a child, it still bothered him a little. The last time this ad happened was during the fight with scar...He hoped this didn't become a common event...

…

Shura stepped into the hospital, clutching her silky black button less jacket closed as she walked through the lobby. She was glad to find that she was attracting less unwanted attention. As she approached the desk, she put on her brightest smile. "Hey, excuse me?" she said in a fake bubbly voice to the receptionist, "But can you give me the room number of my boyfriend?"

The older woman at the desk gave her a curious look. "Who are you asking for?" she said.

"Jean Havock," she responded sweetly, "He got in a nasty accident and I just wanted to make sure he was alright."

The woman smiled at her. "Third floor, Room 316," she said, handing her a piece of paper.

Shura gave her brightest smile. "Thank you!" she said before waving and heading towards the elevator. Once there, she let her face fall and her shoulders relax. While there was a chance the act might not have been necessary, but she didn't want to waste time with a random stranger trying to ask her why she was hear to see a military officer or how she knew said officer. The sooner she could meet up with this Mustang guy, the better.

...

"I told you, just leave me behind!" Jean snapped, grabbing him by the shirt, "Look at me! I'm no use to you like this. I'm just going to weigh you down!" Apparently, Roy hadn't needed to tell him about his situation and his options. Jean had already asked for his resignation letter from service. Seeing as he had become paralyzed from the waist down, he figured that he couldn't continue work in the military. The higher ups had agreed with him apparently, as it was already starting to be finalized. Roy, however, disagreed vehemently. Maybe he couldn't be a soldier, but there had to be something he could do...

"That's not true!" Roy said, "You are not going to weigh us down."

"Oh, and what are you going to do?" he said with a snort, "Have Fuery or Breda wheel me into battle? Think about this Roy. This isn't like losing a limb. I can't just get automail to replace my legs." "And if I can't use my legs, all I'm going to do is just slow you down," Havock reasoned, "If you're going to make it anywhere, you're going to need to learn to let go. The generals never got to where they were for clinging to a soldier just because they were friends with them."

Roy's fist clenched and he gritted his teeth. Roy knew he was right. Jean couldn't help them much at this point. Sure he could take up a desk job, but he wasn't as good at finding small details as Maes or Falman. He didn't graduate in the top of his class like Breda did. He didn't have near the same understanding of technology as Fuery. Jean was best in an active position, like a spy or a gunner. Plus like this he would be an easy target. Still, he couldn't just leave him behind...

"Um, am I interrupting something?" an unfamiliar female voice rang out. Both military men paused in their argument turned towards the door. Once they had their jaws dropped in surprise at who they saw standing there. A lithe and beautiful young woman was standing in the doorway. She had perfectly plump lips, an hourglass figure, and long flowing hair held up in a ponytail that was dyed to resemble fire. However, that wasn't what made their jaws drop. What drew their eyes was in fact her current state of dress. Honestly she looked like she was going to pose for a pinup magazine.

Roy opened and closed his mouth for a moment. He had to shake his head to tear his eyes from her gorgeous physique to meet her own. Jean, however, couldn't stop staring. It was like had been sent into shock by the unexpected sight. Very few coherent thoughts were flooding through the blond man's head at the moment except for a few questions. Who was this woman? Why was she here? Was she lost?...Had one of the guys sent her here for him? He kinda hoped so... Roy cleared his voice before speaking. "Excuse me ma'am, but who exactly are you?" he questioned.

"The name's Shura Kirigakure," she said, "I'm looking for one Roy Mustang. I was told he was here in this room. Which one of you is him?"

Jean immediately deflated and folded his arms. Damn it, of course she was here for him. Why did Roy get all the good ones all the time?! He hadn't even gotten the chance to speak to her! Granted, he couldn't blame Roy. He seemed as confused by this as him. Still it was so unfair! He sighed and jabbed a thumb in his friend's direction.

Shura raised an eyebrow at him. "You're Roy Mustang?" she asked. To be honest, she was a little surprised and the slightest bit disappointed. His reputation was that of some heartthrob. He at least had some of the nurses giggling about him. But to be honest, he seemed pretty average looking to her. He was kind of short and a bit too pretty-boy looking for her. He wasn't ugly by any means, but in her opinion, the guy lying in the bed next to him looked more handsome.

"That is correct," he said, eyeing her carefully, "Why do you ask?"

"I need to speak with you about something," she said, "I'm a close friend of Shiro Fujimoto." Roy's and Jean's eyes widened at that before their expressions became more serious.

"You know him?" he questioned, "How?"

"I was an apprentice of his," she said, "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to you out in the hall for a few moments." Roy nodded before heading after her.

"So," Roy said as he closed the door behind him, "First things first, why are you here? Are the boys in trouble?"

"Sort of, but not in the way you think," she said, "The Vatican hasn't figured out the truth about them or anything yet. Mephisto sent us here because he knows you guys are having a particularly bad infestation of demons, and so we're here to clean up and look after the kids."

Roy's brow furrowed. "Us?" he questioned.

"My student and myself," she clarified, "I work as a teacher at true cross academy. My students are here to help keep Rin and Edward out of trouble."

Roy frowned but nodded. "And how much do they actually know about this situation?" he asked.

Shura rolled her lip underneath her teeth as he she chose her words carefully. "They know about Rin and Yukio's biological father," she said, "but they promised to continue to protect them regardless. However they are mostly unaware of Edward and Alphonse's situation."

Roy nodded in understanding. "I don't suppose you know where your students are currently," he said.

"They're with Edward and Alphonse currently," she said, 'Which brings me to the reason I needed to speak with you. While we have a cover story for what we're doing here, we don't exactly have a base of operations. I don't suppose you have any ideas for us."

Roy mulled it over in his mind. It would be a bad idea to have them all stay in one place, as then they would be an easy target. Plus it would clue the enemy into the fact that they were more organized and connected than they should be. He could probably get a few of them staying with different people…And if he had some of them at the Armstrong estate he could excuse it as them being offered jobs as gardeners or servants. "I think I have some places for you to stay," he said, "But how soon do you need them?"

"Well, Edward is renting us a few hotel rooms for tonight, but after that, the sooner, the better," she said.

Roy nodded. "I better get started on that then," he said.

"There's one more thing," Shura said, "I overheard a conversation between the Elrics. Apparently you guys were fighting something called a homunculus and Rin had a freak out about it."

Roy stiffened at her words. "I assure you, Rin is fine," he insisted, "We fixed the problem. Everything is currently-"

"I realize that," she said, "But if you want to prevent it in the future, I can help." Roy's brow furrowed in confusion. "I have experience with demon swords. I can teach him how to use it properly, or at least how to take care of it. Also, if you need my help, I'd be more than willing to help with this homonculus problem of yours too."

Roy felt a smile inch onto his face. "Thank you. I would very much appreciate that," he said, "We can talk more about this later, however." Shura nodded. He then stepped back into Havock's room. "Jean," he said, "I'll be back later to finish our conversation. I have a few phone calls to make."

The former soldier raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this? It's not like I'm going anywhere…" he stated.

Roy frowned at him. "Because I'm not done arguing with you," he said before turning to Shura, "By the way, I'll need to talk to you later as well. Do you mind waiting here?"

She shrugged before walking past him and flopping down into one of the hospital chairs and crossing her legs. "Sure," she said, "I don't have anything better to do at the moment." Roy nodded before leaving the room.

The two remaining people in the room sat in silence for a few moments. Jean tried to keep from staring at her. He didn't want to make this awkward. She seemed like a good person, especially if she was an apprentice of this Shiro guy. Plus...she was really cute! He didn't want to look like some perverse jerk by staring at her like he had before. "So…" he started, making some conversation, "You were Shiro's apprentice, right?" She looked up at him from her nails and nodded. "So do you know how he's doing right now?" he asked, "I mean, I heard he was in jail but...Has his situation gotten any better?" He mentally winced at his own blunder. That probably wasn't the best icebreaker.

"A little bit," she said, "He still got a life sentence but they've given him a bit more freedom. He's allowed to contact people and I think he gets to go outside twice a week, but all of that is still heavily monitored."

"Oh good!" Jean said, "I mean, him getting more freedom and stuff. Not the part about him still having a life sentence." "So anyways, what did you become his apprentice for?" he asked.

"Hunting," she said simply, "I also learned how to sword fight while under him...later I got a degree as a doctor too though."

Jean's eyebrows reached to his hairline. "Really?" he responded in surprise. She was beautiful, could fight, and was incredibly smart all at the same time?! What wasn't this girl good at?! "You're really something aren't you? You're certainly the prettiest physician I've ever met," he flirted.

She smirked at him. "Sorry, I'm not that kind of doctor," she said, "I don't work in a clinic."

"Oh really?" he said, "What is your job then?" he asked.

"currently, I'm a teacher," she explained.

"Oh so you're that kind of a doctor," he said, "That's pretty amazing. So what school do you teach at?"

"True Cross Academy," she said, "It's a private school in Assiah."

"Sound interesting," he said, "I'd love to hear all about your job there."

"Sure," she said, "Maybe then you can tell me a little bit about yourself too, soldier."

He smiled at her, inwardly excited. She did seem genuinely interested in him. "I'd love to. Maybe I can get the nurse to order you some lunch and we can eat while we talk too," he offered.

"Sorry, but I already ate," she responded. "But maybe when you're out of here, we can grab a drink sometime," she offered with a smirk.

Havock blinked in surprise, caught off guard by her forwardness. He had never had a girl ask him out before. Even Lust, who had been the most forward of all the girls he had ever asked out, hadn't been the one to propose a date. "Come again?" he asked.

"You, me, and a bottle of whiskey at your favorite pub, how does that sound?" she said, "I'm going to be in town for a while so I'd like to find a few good dives to stop by and have a good drink, and it's not as much fun when you're drinking alone. So what do you say: after you get out of here, why don't we celebrate a little, huh?" She didn't know this Jean guy very well, but Edward had mentioned that he had a good heart, and he looked like he could make a good drinking buddy at least.

"Sure!" Jean said grinning from ear to ear, "I'd love to! That sounds great!"

Shura nodded. "Perfect," she said with a smile, "Now do you wanna hear me bitch and moan about my job or tell me about yourself first?"

Jean smiled as he began telling her about himself. Looks like things were looking up for him.


	42. As Good Luck Would have It

"That's the Junren office building," Alphonse gestured to the tall building with marble moulding with a copper crest over the engraved name of the building, "That's where the investigations office is as well as where many higher ranking state alchemists work."

"Cool…" Shima said looking up at the building as they stopped in front of it, "How many offices are in that thing?"

"Not quite sure, actually," Alphonse said, "We've only been in a few. Mostly just the Colonel's actually."

"You've been in the military for four years and you've only seen a handful of offices?" Izumo questioned.

"Well, Brother and Rin have, but I'm not a state alchemist," he said, "We travel a lot and for the longest time we were actually stationed in East City. The colonel was just recently transferred over here."

"Really?" Konekomaru asked, "Why did that happen?"

"We don't know," Alphonse said, "But he was officially stationed here about a month ago. Yukio transferred a little sooner, but that's because he was already here at the time."

"Yukio?" Bon said, "Wait, are you talking about Rin's brother?"

"Yeah, he's a state alchemist too, but he works in a hospital," he explained, "He uses his alchemy to heal people like that." Alphonse snapped his fingers as a demonstration.

"Sweet!" Shima said.

"How ironic, the son of the devil healing people…" Bon thought to himself with a slight smirk.

"I could take you guys to meet him! He's really nice!" Al said, "You'd especially like him Shiemi. He also knows bio alchemy and can transmute-" Alphonse stopped as he looked around to see the petite blonde was nowhere to be seen. "Huh?" he squeaked, "Oh no, where is she?" He looked around wildly, getting nervous. "Have any of you seen her?" he asked the group.

They all shrugged. "The last place I remember seeing her was when we were passing through that green space in the middle of campus after leaving the judicial building," Izumo said.

"Oh no!" Alphonse began to worry. That had been over ten minutes ago! She could be anywhere by now! "This is my fault! I should have been paying closer attention! Miss Shura trusted me with you guys and I let her down!" Alphonse said to himself feeling guilty, "Well, the situation isn't that bad. I'm sure someone has spotted her! I'll just ask around! Now where can I take you guys to wait while I look for-" Alphonse looked up to see that now Bon was also missing.

"He left to go find her," Izumo stated bluntly.

"Oh…" he said, "I guess we can just wait here then. That works too…"

...

Mei Chang walked through the military campus, looking at all the military offices. Dolcetto had procured them money so that she could buy them food, and she had, but she wanted to see if she could run into Rin Mustang. She had heard that he was currently in town, but Edward Elric hadn't been in town for a while. That was disappointing, but she supposed meeting one of them would be better than nothing. As she continued to walk, she took in her surroundings. This place was so foreign. The cars, the architecture, even the brick roads. It was just so different. She couldn't help but get a little distracted by her surroundings.

And because of this, she ended up bumping straight into someone. "OOF!" the Xingese princess said as she stumbled back, nearly falling over.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" someone cried. The girl looked up to see a young, blonde girl wearing what appeared to be an Amestrian school uniform of some kind. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?" she said, a worried look in her eyes.

Mei smiled at her. "Oh, don't worry, I'm fine," she said, "I wasn't exactly watching where I was going either! This is my first time in Amestris, you see."

The girl looked surprised. "Oh really?" she said, "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Xing," she said, "My name is Mei Chang!"

"It's nice to meet you!" the blonde said with a little bow, "My name is Shiemi Moriyama. Out of curiosity, why are you visiting Amestris?"

"I came here looking to see if I could learn from some alchemists," she explained, "By any chance, would you know where Major Mustang works?"

Shiemi blinked in surprise. "You mean Rin?" she said, "Sorry, but I don't think he's here. From what I understand he's taking time off of work."

Mei frowned. "Aw, really?" she said, "That's too bad…"

"I'm really sorry…" the blonde girl responded, feeling bad for her fellow foreigner.

"Oh no, it's fine!" Mei said, "Better to find out now then to spend all afternoon searching for him. Thank you!" She then waved to her before running off. Shiemi waved to her as she departed. Then another voice called out.

"Shiemi!" Bon called. The girl turned to him as he ran over to her. "Where did you go? Come on, we're heading to the near by hospital to see Rin's brother," he said.

"Oh! Sorry!" she said, rubbing the back of her head, "I got a little lost. I saw the fountain in the central campus and decided break away to take a few pictures. By the time I finished you guys were gone."

"Well come on, Al was worried sick," he said, gesturing for her to follow after him.

…

Yukio was walking back to his office. He had just finished looking after a soldier who had gotten his hand crushed under a crate. Now he was ready for a short break. he could really use some coffee right now… He'd been on his feet all morning. But, such is the life of a doctor.

As he turned the corner to reach his office room, he was surprised to find a small crowd congregated at the door with Alphonse at the center.

"Al, I don't think he's here," one with Pink hair said, crossing his arms.

"No, he's got to be! I know it's still his shift," he explained turning towards him.

He raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar teenagers wearing school uniforms. Who were they? Why were they looking for him? Well there was only one way to find the answer to that.

"Alphonse?" he said, catching the suit of armor's, and the rest of the group's, attention, "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Oh! Yukio!" the younger of the two Elric brothers said, "We were just looking for you! No there's nothing wrong. I was just showing these guys around the different military buildings and I thought it would be a good idea for them to meet you. They're the people that were brought over from Assiah."

Yukio's eyebrows raised slowly in understanding. "Oh, I see!" he said, "Well it's good to finally meet you all. You're exorcists, correct?"

"Exwires," Konekomaru corrected, "We're still in training. My name is Konekomaru. It's good to meet you."

Yukio smiled. "Likewise," he responded, stretching out his gloved hand for a handshake, "As you've probably been told, I'm Yukio Mustang, Rin's twin brother."

The bald boy hesitated before stretching out his hand to accept the handshake. It was still odd that he was standing in front of a son of Satan, even if he didn't have any of his father's powers. "Now, Who are the rest of you?" he asked as he turned to the group.

"I'm Ryuji, but most call me Bon," the tan boy said, arms folded over his chest.

"Izumo," the girl with purple hair responded.

"My names Shima," the Pink haired boy said, stepping forward to shake his hand.

Next to step forward was a blonde girl. "I'm Shiemi Moriyama, Sir," she said with a slight bow, "It's good to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," he responded with a smile, "So you all go to an exorcist school, correct?"

"Yeah, True Cross Academy," Bon responded, "So you really work here as a doctor?"

Yukio continued to smile. "Yep," he said, "Though technically I'm not a doctor. I don't have an official degree, but due to my specialty with alkahestry and my title as a state alchemist, I have most of the authority of one."

"Wait...Alkahestry?" Izumo said, "What's that?"

"It's a style of alchemy developed in a land called Xing, primarily used in the field of medicine," he explained, "That's the field I studied for it anyways. I'm no master at it, but I do have great deal of understanding on the subject. It's why I have the name of Lifeblood Alchemist. I can also perform regular bio alchemy."

"Bio Alchemy...I remembered Alphonse mentioned it before. What kind of alchemy is that?" Izumo inquired further.

"Bio alchemy is a pretty large field, ranging many topics," he responded turning towards her, "But my form of bio alchemy mostly focuses on transmuting plants."

"Plants?!" Shiemi squeaked in delight. Yukio nearly jumped at her outburst. He turned to her, her eye shining with delight. "Can you show me some? Please? I'd love to see how people can use alchemy on plants," she said.

Yukio blinked before smiling at her. "Sure!" he said, "I can give you guys a little demonstration. Here, let's all step into my office for a little while."

…

Rin walked up to the dorms in a t-shirt and slacks. He was still taking the day off so to speak, but after Ling's visit he didn't feel like being alone in the house. So he decided to head out to see how Alphonse and Winry were doing. However, when he made it to the third floor of the dorm and heard shouting, he soon regretted this idea. Especially because it was coming from Edward and Alphonse's dorm. He slowly approached it, hearing a female voice from within. He peered inside carefully to see what was going on.

"I told you already! She's not some bimbo, she's a teacher!" Ed shrieked from his place hiding behind the couch.

"And I'm calling bullshit!" Winry said, "You really expect me to believe that she's a teacher at some private school?! Look how young she is! She can't be more than a few years older than us!" "Besides, what self respecting teacher dresses like that?!" she continued.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Edward cried, "Ask her yourself when she gets back!"

"What do you mean, when she gets back?!" Winry exclaimed.

"Uhhh…Is this a bad time?" Rin said from his place in the doorway. He had no idea what they were talking about.

"Rin!" Ed said, a look of relief on his face, "Thank goodness. Please explain to her that I am not lying and that Shura is in fact a teacher!"

"Shura?" Rin said, "Oh, you mean the woman with the the fiery hair and stuff?" "Yeah, didn't she say she was one at True Cross academy?" he asked.

"Yes! See Winry? Rin's met her too!" he said.

"When?" Winry said skeptically. She was having a hard time believing all this.

"When were in the desert," Rin said, "She's also an exorcist."

Winry's eyebrows skyrocketed to her forehead. "You're kidding!" she said, "She hunts demons?"

"Yeah," Rin explained, "She teaches at a school for exorcists. She's got a whole class with her as well," he explained, "She's apparently really good at her job too. Like first rank or something. I don't remember her full title."

"Wait, she has a class with her?" Winry said, getting skeptical, "Why didn't I see any of them?"

"Because they went on a tour with Alphonse," he explained, "They should be back in a little while. I don't know when Shura will be back, however. She went to go find the colonel for some reason."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "What does she want with Dad?" he asked, "Did Mephisto want her to talk to him?"

Edward shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "She didn't tell me."

Rin scratched his head. "I guess we'll just have to ask her when she gets back," he said as he flopped onto the couch.

"Speaking of which, why are you here?" Ed asked, "Not that I mind, but I thought your dad was making you take a day off."

"He is, but I got sick of sitting at home alone," he said, "I wanted to see what Al was up to, but I'm glad to see you're back in town. How've you been?"

Ed frowned as he thought. "Actually not too bad…" he said, "Actually I have some important news…"

Rin raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side. "What kind of news? What happened?" he asked.

Edward folded his hands in front of his face. "It's about...what Al and I created," he said, "I found out what it really was." Rin and Winry's eyes widened before they exchanged looks before leaning in and listening intently.

...

As Roy finished his last phone call he stepped away from the pay phone and started heading towards Yukio's office. He hadn't made any final arrangements but he had figured out a time and place to meet to do so. For now he supposed he should make sure to introduce Yukio to their...guest. Or at least the one he's met so far. He'd have to figure out a time to meet her class.

That time appeared to be right now as when he had opened the door, he found Yukio surrounded by a group of teenagers and Alphonse, chatting away. He was standing in front of a table explaining something.

"And then you place your hands on the circle and focus on the material of the object you are altering," he said, "And then go through the chemical breakdown and reconstruction in your head." Blue lightning sparked from the circle as the used tea packet in the center turned into a hibiscus.

The small audience of teenagers looked impressed by this as they let out astonished noises. "Man, that's sweet!" Shima said.

"I've never seen one of those in person!" Konekomaru said.

"It's so beautiful!" Shiemi said smiling down that the creation, "It looks like it was just picked! It even smells like one! How did you do that?"

"Well it's not that difficult," he said simply, "Plant alchemy is actually a very basic forum of bio alchemy, and many plants use the same sort of plastids and polysaccharides so…" Yukio paused as he noticed Roy standing in the doorway. "Oh! Dad!" he said, causing all the teens to look in Roy's direction, "Are you finished visiting with Havock?"

"Almost, I just needed to tell you about something first, but it appears you're busy," he said, "I take it this group of children are from Assiah?"

"Yeah, and you're their father?" Bon asked.

"Correct," he said nodding, "I am Colonel Roy Mustang. The flame alchemist."

"Flame Alchemist?" Shima said, "I thought Rin was the flame alchemist."

"No, my brother is the Spitfire alchemist," Yukio explained, "He works with fire as well, but he has a different title."

"But I thought every state alchemist worked with different material…"Konekomaru said, a slightly confused look on his face.

Roy frowned. "No, every state alchemist has a specialty," he explained, "Not everyone has a unique material they work with. It would be near impossible to become a state alchemist otherwise."

"Sorry if this sounds rude, but exactly how old are you?" Izumo questioned with an eyebrow raised at him, "You look really young, but this guy and his brother are probably sixteen or seventeen like us. Exactly how old were you when you adopted them? You don't look older than thirty."

Roy gave her an annoyed look. "I'm not, thank you very much," he said, "I didn't adopt them as infants. I adopted them when they were seven from an old friend. They were originally from your world if you didn't already know. Mephisto, the one that brought you here, was the one that brought them here as well."

"Figures as much…" Bon said.

"Honestly, I was kinda thinking that was the case, but I didn't want to assume," Konekomaru said, "My name is Konekomaru, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The colonel nodded. "You as well," he said, "As for the rest of you, I believe some introductions are in order."

"I'm Renzo Shima," the pink haired boy said before slinging an arm around Suguro, "and this is Bon."

The taller boy rolled his eyes. "That's not my actual name, it's a nickname my friends call me," he said, "My real name is Ryuji Suguro."

Roy nodded again. After Izumo and Shiemi introduced himself he spoke up again. "Very good. Now that that's out of the way, I need to talk to you about something regarding where you will be staying," he said before turning on his heel and heading for the door, "Follow me." The teens exchanged looks before following after him. Yukio and Alphonse decided to tag along as well.

They were quiet for a few moments before Konekomaru spoke up. "Um, Colonel, Sir?" he piped up, "Where exactly are we going?"

"To get your teacher and have a little conversation about where you'll be staying for now," he said, "It was lucky that you came when you did. She had come to find me to discuss your little assignment here."

"That is lucky," Shima said, "Wait, why wasn't she with you when you came to find Yukio?" He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the teen in question.

"I had to make a few phone calls so I left her with a friend of mine for a little while," he explained as they approached a door to a hospital room. As they did, they could hear loud laughter and snorting coming from the inside. Roy furrowed his brow before opening the door. When he did, he saw that Shura had moved across the room to sit in the chair next to Havock's bed. Well, sort of, she was about to fall out of it as she continued to laugh and snort like a crazy person. There were the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she chortled. "Seriously?! You got him so drunk he rapped THAT?!" she said in between pearls of laughter.

"Yeah, I think Fuery even got it recorded," Jean said proudly.

"God, he better have!" she said, "I want to hear it the first chance I get!"

Roy blinked in surprise before he realized what story he must have told her. He gritted his teeth and his eye twitched in anger. That asshole! They all promised to not bring that dumb thing up again! If Jean wasn't thinking about retiring, he would have piled him high with the most grueling filing jobs he could when he got back to work. "AHEM," he announced.

The two turned to look at him, Jean blanching as he realized he had been caught while Shura just burst out laughing again at the sight of him. Roy growled angrily. All the teens except Yukio stood there in confusion. Yukio on the other hand had his in his face in embarrassment. He had been hoping that particular memory had finally died in the minds of his father's team. "That's enough!" he barked after the laughter went on for about half a minute longer, "I have something important I have to discuss with you and I need you to focus!"

Shura rolled her eyes before letting her laughter die down. "Oh fine, ya buzz kill!" she said with a smirk as she got up, "What is it that you want?"

Roy pulled out a pen and paper. "I've made some arrangements to decided where you will stay," he said as he started writing down on the piece of paper. He then tore it out and handed it to her. "Tomorrow night and 8 o'clock I want you to come to this address with your students. Some of my colleagues will be there with me and from there we will be diving up where each of you will be staying," he said, "Edward should be able to get you directions, but be careful. Make sure you haven't been followed at all, got it?" Shura nodded as she took it. "Also," he said in a lower voice, "Make sure to let Rin know about that training. If you really can help, I want him to start with you as soon as possible."

"Gotcha," she said, "Well, I guess that means I should help get these kiddos back to the dorms. She turned to wave at Havock. "See ya soldier boy," she said with a smirk, "It was fun talking to you." Jean waved back, a bright smile on his face. She then turned to Roy with a far more menacing grin. "See ya, Sparky," she said in a low voice, "I can't wait to hear that rap you made." Roy glared at her before she left the room with the confused teens and Alphonse. Yukio left to head back to his office shortly afterwards.

That left Havock and Roy alone in the room. The tension was thick in the air for a moment before Roy spoke up. "Jean…" he said in a low voice, turning to glare at him, "Exactly how many of your girlfriends have you told that story to?"

The paralyzed man swallowed before speaking. "None! I only told her, I promise!" he said holding his hands up defensively, "It was an accident! We were telling stupid bar stories and I let it slip a bit so she pressed me for more details! She's the only one who's heard that story, I promise."

Roy glared at him for a moment before sighing. "One is still too many…" he said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Especially considering that she's going to spend a lot of time around Fullmetal. If he finds out, I'll never live it down." With that he began heading for the door. "I'll be seeing you, Jean," he said, gripping the door way, "I'll let you go for now, but I won't be giving up on you anytime soon." He then closed the door behind him.

As he did so, Jean released a sigh of relief. Good, he had believed him. While he had really only told one other girl, Roy would kill him if he ever found out who. Solaris, or rather "Lust", had taken him to the bar one night to buy him some drinks. He realized now that she had been trying to get information out of him about his friends, but he didn't know that then, or at least was too drunk to realize. Thankfully, hadn't given anything too important away...However, he did remember telling her about the Flame Alchemist rap...and possibly reciting it. He certainly remembered quite a bit of laughter from her. He just hoped she took that knowledge to her grave. Otherwise Mustang would incinerate him on the spot if he ever found out the truth.

…

"We're back!" Alphonse called as he opened the door to the dorm. Edward look up from his seat in the writing desk as they all piled in.

"Great," the older brother said, "Hey Shura heads up!" He suddenly tossed something made of cloth towards the woman in question. She caught it with both hands and unfolded it to find a long, button up black coat. "Rin made a run for the materials for me," he explained, "I also booked you guys some rooms down at the Hortensio Hotel down town. You can stay there for about three nights."

"Nice, thanks kiddo," she said as she continued to examine the coat, "And this is pretty good too! Not the least bit gaudy."

Ed frowned. "Of course not!" he said, "Why would it be?"

She smirked. "Because you made it. Have you seen the way you dress yourself?" she said. Rin and Winry snickered from the kitchenette.

Edward growled at her. "This coming from the woman who's only half dressed? My clothes are perfectly fine, thank you very much!" he snapped.

His rude remark didn't even phase her as she folded the coat back up. "Sure, you keep telling yourself that," she responded with a smirk. Edward began to growl incoherently at her before Konekomaru spoke up.

"Hey, did you say Rin was here?" he asked.

"Yo!" the demon in question called from the kitchenette, "Over here!" He and Winry stepped out as they finished putting the cherry pie in the oven. "We were just finishing up trying out a new recipe Aunt Gracia gave me. What's up?" he said with a smile on his face as he wiped the flower off of his hands. The group stared at him for a moment in silence. Some of them were still slightly uncomfortable. Although meeting his adoptive father and twin brother and speaking with Edward about him helped them get comfortable with Rin a little, it was still a little uncomfortable. After all, the boy still did hold the power of Satan. It was a little unsettling. Still, they had heard so many good things about him, and seeing him now, he looked so calm and peaceful. Like he wouldn't hurt a soul. They supposed they'd just have to get used to being around him.

"Is something wrong?" he said, giving them a curious look.

"Uh, no!" Konekomaru said, "It's good to see you again Rin! Sorry about how we reacted to you before."

"It's alright," he said waving them off, "It's water under the bridge now."

"What do you mean by that?" Winry questioned, "How did they react to you?"

Rin froze for a second before quickly answering. "Oh! That!" he said, "It's my flame alchemy. I showed it to them and they kinda had a bad reaction to it before. Blue fire has some nasty cultural significance to it." The teens raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. It was clear that the girl didn't know the true nature of his flames.

"Ohhh I see," she said, nodding her head, "Anyways, My name is Winry Rockbell. It's a pleasure to meet you. You are all apart of her class, right?" She gestured to Shura.

"Yep," Bon said.

"Wait, did you say your name is Rockbell?" Shima said, "Like Pinako Rockbell?"

Winry gave him a suspicious look. "Yeah…" she said slowly, "How did you know that?"

"We had to stay at your granny's house for a day on our way here," he said, "It's nice to meet you! My name's Shima. Do you make automail like her?"

She smiled. "Why yes I do," she responded, "I'm actually Ed's mechanic."

Shima smirked at him. "Wow, lucky guy!" he said, "I know if I lost an arm or a leg, I'd want to have a mechanic as wonderful as you!"

WInry beamed at him while Ed glared, feeling an angry knot forming in his stomach. "Aw, that's kind of you to say!" she said.

Edward narrowed his eyes before smirking. "I don't know if you'd really want that, Shima," he said, "Getting automail from her will cost you more than just an arm and a leg! What with her transportation fees, her rush order fees…"

She turned and glared at him, causing him to flinch. "I wouldn't have to charge you so much if you didn't keep breaking your arms beyond repair!" she snapped. Shima and the other's snickered at that. "Anyways, so what are the rest of your names?"

"My name's Bon," the yellow and brown haired boy said, stepping forward, "This is Izumo and Konekomaru. And that's Shiemi." He gestured to his other classmates.

Shiemi stepped forward. "Hello," she said, stepping forward, "It's a pleasure to meet you." "I really admire your work with automail," she said, "I think it's really wonderful! I haven't seen anything like it before."

Winry looked surprised. "Really?" she asked, "You've never seen automail before?" Edward got a sinking feeling about what was going to happen next.

"Not before Ed," Bon said, "We don't have that stuff back home."

Winry looked horrified. "That's terrible!" she said, "Automail is such a wonderful thing!"

"It seem so," Shima said still trying to flirt, "I don't suppose you could tell us more about it." Edward face palmed as Winry's eyes lit up. This was going to spell their own doom.

"Well, I'd-"

"No!" Edward announced, "None of that. If you get her talking about automail, she'll never shut up."

Winry glared at Edward who flinched again. "Actually," Shura said, "We should probably head out here. I want to check into our hotel and get settled." "Besides, Rin," She said, now directing her attention on the boy, "Your father wanted me to teach you how to use Kurikara properly. I'm guessing you haven't had any formal training with a sword, let alone a demon sword, so I'd like to start having lessons tonight if possible."

Rin blinked in surprise. "Really?" he responded, voice slightly higher.

"Yeah, I just got to figure out a place to practice," she said.

"I think I know where we could go," Rin said, "Dad knows a few places around the city that are good for espionage missions and a few of them he used to teach me fire alchemy in."

"Perfect," she said, "Call your dad up and let him know we'll be meeting up. Seven sound good?" Rin nodded. "Alright," she said, "Let's grab our car and get out of here. Think you can give us an address?"

"I can take you to the hotel," Rin offered, "It's not too far from my house. I can walk back and call dad from there. After that I can get started on dinner."

Shura smiled. "Sounds like a plan," she said.

"Wait," Winry said, "You're heading home just like that? Can't you at least wait until the pie is done? We finally have you, Edward, and Alphonse all back in same place again without anything going wrong. Can't we just sit back and enjoy the moment?"

Rin scratched the back of his head. "Sorry but I really should be getting going," he explained, "How about tomorrow we all get together at my place for lunch?" Winry considered this for a moment before nodding.

"Alright then," she said.

Edward smiled brightly. "You know I'm always up for your cooking," he said. He then turned to the exwires. "How about you guys? Would you like that?" he said. They looked surprised for a moment before smiling. "Free food? Sure! I'd love some!" Shima said. Bon rolled his eyes.

"Thanks! That's really kind of you," Konekomaru added.

"We'll be there," Bon confirmed.

"Great," he said, "Well, let's get going guys!" With that, Rin and the group of exorcists headed down stairs to their van.

Once they had left, Edward turned to Alphonse with a sigh of relief. "Good, they're gone," he said, running a hand through his hair, "Now I can finally tell you about what I wanted to tell you."

Alphonse turned to him and cocked his head to the side. "Huh? What do you mean?" he said.

"It's about your body, Al," he said, "and that...thing we created. I don't think we pulled something from the other side and left your body in its place. I think your body might not be as out of reach as we thought."

Al sat up straight as he was filled with shock. He sat down on the couch in front of his brother, intent on listening.

…

Rin directed them from the passenger seat of the car to the hotel. After that, he helped them unload as Shura checked in. "Aaaand I think that's it!" Rin said, clapping his hands together.

"Thanks for your help kid," Shura said as she walked out of the building, swinging a few hotel keys around her finger. "I think we're all set to set up shop," she said.

"Yeah, thanks man!" Shima said as he picked up a suitcase and began heading towards the door, "That demon strength really comes in handy sometimes. This would have taken us hours otherwise."

Rin scratched the back of his head. "Eh it was really no biggie," he said, "literally."

Shima pouted. "No need to rub it in…" he muttered. He then continued on his way to the door.

"Come on people, let's move," Shura announced, "We're going to have to make a few trips so let's hop to it." The other teens nodded and grabbed their stuff before heading after her...That is except for one. Shiemi walked up to him.

"Uh, Rin?" she said, "Thanks for the help. I know Shima already thanked you, but I really appreciate it."

He smiled at her. "No problem!" he said, "Just trying to help!"

She smiled. With that she began walking towards the door when she stopped again. "Oh, I just remembered," she announced, a look of realization dawned on on her face, "I saw this girl on the military campus. She was looking for you. He name was Mei I think," she said, "She was visiting from a place called Xing and wanted to talk to some alchemists about something."

Rin frowned before raising an eyebrow. "Really?" he said, "What did she look like?"

She brought a finger to her chin. "Well, she was short. She was wearing pink and had long black hair in braids," she said, "and the braids were up in buns. Also she had black eyes."

Rin's brow furrowed. He swore that sounded familiar. Where had he seen something like that before? "Thanks for letting me know," he said, "See ya around." She waved to him as he walked away. Rin continued to frown as he walked back to his house. Where had he seen someone like that before? He wracked his brain for a full fifteen minutes before realization dawned on him. His eyes widened in horror as he remembered where he had seen a girl like that. She had been traveling with Scar!

Rin ran home as fast as he could. This could be really bad. While there was a possibility that this wasn't the case and that he was mistaken, it was better to be safe than sorry. When he got home he immediately began calling his dad's number.


	43. A method to the madness

"Come on, come on!" Rin grumbled as he dialed the phone. Surely Roy was back by now. He waited as the phone rang, tapping his finger on the desk. As the receiver finally picked up on the other end as Roy's voice came through. "hello? Who is this?" he asked.

"Dad, it's me!" he said, "I've got some pretty bad news too: I think scar is in the city." Rin could practically feel Roy's jaw drop.

"What?!" he cried, "Are you sure? Do you think or do you know?"

"I'm not 100% sure, but my gut's got a pretty good feeling about this," he said, "One of the exwires that came here, Shiemi, saw a girl that looks exactly like someone I saw traveling with Scar before."

"Are you sure?" Roy said.

"Well, I didn't see her myself…" Rin said, scratching the back of his head.

Rin heard his father sigh with a mix of relief and exasperation. "Rin, while I thank you that you brought this up, I can't call an emergency if you yourself hadn't spotted him or his associates. It could just be a coincidence," he said, "But if you believe him to be in the city, please keep your guard up. Make sure you're not walking the streets alone at night."

"Oh right, speaking of which," Rin said, "Later tonight Shura is having me practice with sword fighting. She can probably get me over there and back cause she's got that car, but I'm going to need my sword and the address for that place we used to practice flame alchemy in?"

Roy sighed. "You'll have to ask Yukio for where the sword is," he said, "But I can give you the adress for now." Rin listened intently and wrote down the information on a piece of paper. "Thanks dad," he said, "I'll see you when you get home...or when I get home from practicing with Shura. Whichever comes first." With that, he hung up again.

"Who's this Shura person? Is she a sword fighter?" a voice suddenly said. Rin nearly jumped and turned to see Ling once again sitting at the table.

"What the-" he started, "What are you doing back here?!"

"Half because I was bored and half because I wanted to apologize," he said, "I do feel a little bad for prying into your life so much. I hadn't know the topic was so personal at first." "But who is this Shura person? And why haven't I heard of her before?" he questioned, leaning forward with interest.

Rin sighed. "You haven't heard of her because she just came into town with Ed," he explained, "She's an exorcist and she's going to be helping me control my demon powers through my sword better."

Ling's eye brows rose. "Hmm…" he said aloud, "Can I come watch?"

Rin blinked in surprise. "Uh...why?" he questioned.

"Well maybe I can learn a few things from her," he explained, "I don't know if we'll be facing demons in the future or not, but if we are, it would be good to have some defensive training against them." Ling frowned. "When we tried to stop Amaimon, he handed our asses to us," he explained, "I don't want that to happen again if I can avoid it. Besides, I could keep on the lookout for Scar for you. With my chi sensing abilities, I can tell if anyone is trying to sneak up on you during your training and stop them in their tracks if necessary."

Rin stroked his chin in thought before nodding. "Alright," he said, "But if she's against it, you've gotta leave."

Ling shrugged. "Fair enough," he said.

…..

Maes, Riza, Armstrong, and the rest of team Mustang minus Jean were gathered together after work in a small pub. However, it wasn't a normal pub. This particular one was located in the Red Light district of Central and overseen by one Madame Christmas. The group was more than confused with why Roy had chosen this of all places to meet up, but they hadn't questioned at first. However as the actually sat in the pub, the men gathered were not quite as comfortable with the situation, though mostly Armstrong and Maes. Both swore that if their older sister or wife found out they were there, they would surely kill them. The women of the establishment had a less than clean reputation. Still when they had told them they were meeting with Roy like he had asked them to say, they had been extremely helpful and even closed up shop so they would not be disturbed.

Fuery, Breda, and Falman were a little bit more comfortable with the situation, but Riza was sitting with her arms crossed, quiety wondering why Roy chose this of all places to meet. How exactly did he know of this place? Hopefully it wasn't because he was a regular. Whatever the case may be, he had a lot of explaining to do.

They all heard a jingle as someone enter the building despite the sign saying it was closed. They turned to the noise and saw that Roy was standing in the doorway. He nodded to them as he walked. "Sorry I'm late," he said, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

"Long enough," Maes huffed, "Sorry Roy. I don't mean to question your judgement, but why did we meet up here of all places?"

"Agreed…" Armstrong said, "I'm sure you had your reasons for choosing this place, but I feel it may not have been the most appropriate place to meet in secret."

"It's not so bad…" Falman said,trying to look on the bright side, "The beer they have on tap is pretty good actually."

"And the waitresses are pretty nice too," Breda noted.

"Sorry, It was to make sure we wouldn't be spied on," Roy said, "Not many know this, but the woman who runs this establishment is actually a family member of mine. Her girls have been acting like a spy network for me for some time."

the men all sat up in surprise and Riza raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?" Fuery said, "You mean that every time you said you had a hot tip and we'd catch you going out with a woman you actually did have a hot tip?"

"Yep," he said, "It's good way to make me look like I know less than I actually do. People see me and just see an arrogant womanizer rather than a political threat. Though some of my dates in East City were real."

"Excellent strategy, Colonel!" Alex said, clapping his hands, "You even had us fooled!"

"Yeah, Even I hadn't expected something like that from you," Maes said with a smile. Riza said nothing but also smiled. Even she hadn't known that about the Colonel, though she supposed one didn't generally brag about being related to someone who runs a brothel or what appears to be one anyways.

"So I suppose we should get to why I gathered you here," Roy said, "The truth is I have some favors to ask of you. I need a few of you to volunteer to take in some people for a short time."

The men raised some eyebrows. "You're not talking about some of your spy friends working here, are you?" Falman asked.

"No," Roy said, "These people are different. They are some friends of Shiro here from Assiah that are going to help us with these homunculi." The group exchanged some looks aside from Hughes and Hawkeye.

"Wait, does that mean Shiro is out of prison?" Breda asked.

"No," he said, "From what I understand he's still serving a life sentence. But these are some specialists that have learned under him or his students that have a bit more experience dealing with something similar to what we are."

"How many of them are there?" Riza asked.

"And where did these people come from?" Fuery asked, "I mean, did you know about them coming here to help us?"

"There are about six in total and no," he answered, "I didn't know, but apparently they were planning on coming for a while. Do you remember Ed and Rin's Kidnapping? Well that had been originally orchestrated by a man named Mephisto Pheles, a close friend of Shiro's, to have an excuse to come over here and work with Edward as well as keep too many people from figuring out why they were here."

"Wait, did you know about their kidnapping?" Falman questioned.

Roy sighed. "No, I was only made aware after the fact," he said, glancing away, annoyance clear on his face. "So, which of you would be able to harbor some of them for a little while?" he asked, "They don't have Amenstrian money, so they can't rent apartments, and despite the pay I do get, I can't afford to pay rent for them."

"I can provide assistance!" Alex said, pointing a finger in the air, "My family's servants live on my estate. They may stay there if they like and pretend to be hired help."

Roy nodded. "Good, that could definitely work," he said, "But we'll need more than one place for them to stay. It would be too suspicious otherwise if they were all in the same place."

"I'm afraid you'll have to count us out, Sir," Flaman said, "My home is too small for another person and Fuery lives in the military dorms."

"I live in an apartment, but I have a small study room," Breda said, "I could switch the desk in there for a futon and someone can stay there, but I can only house one person."

Roy nodded. "I can house someone else as well," Riza said, "I don't have an extra room in my apartment, but I do have a large living room. Someone could stay in there if they like."

"I've got some extra space too," Hughes said, "We've got a guest room, but I couldn't support more than two extra people for very long."

"That will be more than enough," Roy said, "Now that that's settled, we'll figure out who goes where next."

…..

It was later that evening when Shura have been called to pick up Rin for their first practice. The boy had mentioned something about a possible criminal on the loose, so he didn't want to walk there alone. She had agreed, however, when Shura pulled up to Rin's house, she had not been expecting any guests at the time. When she saw Rin exit the building with a strange boy in a yellow jacket, she raised an eyebrow. "Woah, Woah, wait a minute," she said as they got closer, "Who the heck is he?"

"This is Ling. He's a friend of mine," Rin explained, "He wanted to observe our practice and see if he could learn anything about fighting demons."

Shura looked him up and down. "You know anything about swordfighting?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," he said proudly, "I've been trained by the finest in all of Xing."

"Alright, fine," she said, "At least I won't have to be training a newbie. Hop in and let's get going." The two boys did as she said and climbed in the back of the car.

…..

"Alright," Shura said as they stepped inside the empty factory space, "Now let's get started." She turned to Ling and Rin as they dropped the bag of supplies on the ground. As they did so, she unbuttoned her coat to expose her stomach. Ling's eyes widened.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" he questioned. She didn't answer as she began summoning her sword from her tattoo. Ling took a step back in surprise at this.

As she finished she swung it over her head dramatically. "Does that answer your question?" she asked.

Ling was silent for a moment before turning to Rin. "Can you do that too?" he questioned.

"Do you think I would be lugging this around if I was?" Rin said, holding up the koma sword.

"Yeah, speaking of which," Shura said, walking over and plucking the sword from his hands, "You won't be needing this today."

"Huh?" Rin said, blinking in surprise and mouth agape, "Wait, I thought you were teaching me how to use the koma sword?!"

"Yeah, and I will, but first you need to be able to use a regular sword," she said walking over to one of the bags and pulling out a practice one. "If you don't know how to wield a regular sword properly, then you have no chance of being able to control a demon sword," she continued, handing him the weapon, "Now I want you to show me what you know: take up a fighting stance and try to defend yourself against me." Rin did as he was instructed, unsheathing the sword and moving into a stance but at that point, Shura suddenly ran a hand down her face and motioned him to stop, "No, no, no. Jesus Christ kid, even your stance is wrong!" she said with a sigh, "It's a sturdy stance, but your entire midsection is open for an attack! Jeez kid, you're lucky you haven't been in any fights yet, otherwise you would be minced meat right now."

Rin frowned while Ling gave him a smirk. "Hey, I'll have you know I've been in plenty of fights with this sword, and I've come out on top most of the time!"

"Yeah, and how many of those fights were against another swordfighter?" she questioned. Rin stopped and paused. "I thought so," she continued, "That's why you need to learn proper sword fighting first. Come on. You, your pal, and I can practice sparring for a little while after I get you started. Then we can move on to some actual demon training stuff."

Rin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he huffed before moving over to where she was. About forty minutes later, they had gone through all the basic stances and had moved onto sparing. Well, it had been sparring for Rin but not Ling. These techniques were what he had learned back when he was a little boy with every passing moment, he became more and more annoyed. On top of that, he was used to much fast swordfighting. Shura was having them wove at a snail's pace so Rin could learn properly. He could understand why they were doing it that way, as he had once learned that way, but it did't make it any more enjoyable. Neither was watching Shura show him how to spar when she let him take a break.

He was more than relieved when she finally said, "Alright, I think that's enough for now."

"Finally!" Ling said, "You have no idea how tedious that was!"

Rin frowned. "Well, I'm sorry I wasn't trained by the finest swordsmen in all of Amestris..." he grumbled.

"So are we moving on to actually working with Kurikara?" Rin asked.

"Nope," Shura said, making a popping noise with the p. She grabbed him by the arm and sat him down on the floor before going to grab a bag. "We'll be working on controlling your flames next," she said as she pulled out three candles and set them out before him.

Rin turned and glared at her. "I already know how to control my flames like this!" he snapped, "I've done this exercise a million times while practicing flame alchemy." He decided to prove his point by pulling out his ignition glove. She stopped him by grabbing the glove with one hand and smacking him upside the head with the other. "OW!" he cried, looking up at her with betrayal, "What the hell was that for?!"

"If I wanted you to use flame alchemy, I would have asked," she said, "After all, it's not your flame alchemy that you're having problems with, is it? It's your regular demon fire powers."

Rin looked at her with surprise before looking away. "I suppose you have a point…" he said.

"Though flame alchemy may be the best way to control and aim your flames, you should still want to make sure you aren't summoning them on accident," she said, "And the best way to do that is to figure how to summon it in the first place and temper it." She set the bag down next to him. "I want you to keep practicing with these until you're able to light the two outside candles at the same time without affecting the middle." Rin rolled his eyes but complied anyways. Shura then turned to Ling. "Alright, If you want to learn how to fight demons, we'll have to start with the basics. Unfortunately, we won't have time to get you training in the mieser of Aria or Doctor, and you can't be a tamer with out a temptaint even if Rin says you have a power to sense demons," she said, "So we'll have to go with physical weapons like swords and guns."

Ling smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me!" he said. The exorcist then pulled him aside with the bag of weaponry, leaving Rin alone with his candles to practice with. However, that did not mean no one was watching him. And Pride did not like what he was seeing. He growled. So there was an exorcist in their midst. He had been suspicious when he first saw the group come into town, however, he could not focus on tracking them and pretend to be human for his school teacher and classmates. Even envy would agree that acting human was no easy task, particularly when dealing with young humans. Prior commitments aside, Father needed to hear about this. Immediately.

…..

"Exorcists?!" Astaroth growled, "No, no, no! NO,NO,NO NO!" He tugged at his hair as he began to pace. "How can they be here?!" he hissed, "This is impossible! How could they even get over to this universe?!"

"Well, you got over here just fine…" Envy noted.

Astaroth rounded on him and snorted. "That's different! I passed through the gates of Gehenna to get here! You can't pass through to here from the human world!" he snapped.

"Mostly, you mean," Father said, "After all, Satan's spawns were brought here by a demon named Mephisto. Maybe they cannot get here on their own, but with a demon's help…"

Astaroth's eyes widened. Of course! How could he be so blind! That damn older brother. He had become too attached to the humans for his own good. No wonder he had refused to leave the human world. He had become their lap dog.

"And that other brother of yours, Amaimon, is clearly involved as well," Pride continued, "That kidnapping was most likely staged to give them an excuse to meet in private."

"Great...Just great…" the Demon King growled. Not only were they dealing with exorcists, but also fellow demon kings. "This is serious…" he muttered, "It could ruin our plans completely…"

"So, we should try and get rid them straight away, right?" Envy said.

"No…" Astaroth responded.

this confused all the homunculi present. "Why not?" Envy responded, "We can't just leave them alive. What if they become a real threat like you said they would?"

"I mean we don't know enough about them yet," he said, "If you give a rat the wrong kind of poison or put it in the wrong food stash, the rat will live to see another day and continue to spawn more little monsters like itself." "We need to know how strong they are and what they are up to here before we can do anything else," he said, "Yu said the one training him was named Shura, correct?"

"That is correct," Pride said.

"Shura Kirigakure…" he snarled, "Apprentice to that damned Paladin himself...She is not a force to be trifled with. A first class exorcist and jack of all trades among the different meisers...it would take a truly powerful demonic force to stop her…" He then turned to the homunculi. "On top of that, she is a master knight, one of the few techniques of demon hunting that can harm your kind as well…" he added, "If she has cohorts of equal standing, it could prove impossible to stop them. But if they aren't…"

Pride and envy smirked. "We can pick them off one by one until she is the only one remaining," the smaller of the two said.

"Exactly," the demon king smiled.

"Then it is settled," Father said from his throne, "Envy, Pride, you two will act as surveillance. Track them down and find out as much as you can about them." The two nodded and the small meeting was adjourned. Astaroth watched them do so before heading off in a seemingly random direction. "Hold on," Father said, 'Where are you going?"

"To cook something special up for Miss Kirigakure," he said, "As I said, it would take something special to deal with her. I better start working if we want to have a chance." Father nodded before letting him head out.


	44. House Guests

Yukio was sitting at his desk, busy with paperwork. Some wounded men had come in today, and he was finishing up clearing them to leave. After he was done, he hoped to be able to head home and catch the tail end of the party Rin had told him he was planning. He was inviting the exwires that had joined them to lunch as well as Edward and Alphonse. Yukio was glad he was getting along with them. Also, he looked forward to seeing what RIn had prepared. As he finished signing a release form, his phone began to ring. He reached over to pick it up and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, "This is Major Yukio Mustang speaking."

"Good, you picked up," Roy sighed with relief from the other end of the line, "Listen I have something important I need to tell you."

Yukio frowned. "What is it?" he asked, "Dad? Is something wrong?"

"It's Scar," Roy responded, "He's here in Central."

"Yukio's eyes widened. "What?!" he cried, standing up, "Are you sure?""

"Unfortunately, yes," he said, "We found six state alchemists dead this morning. All of them had their skulls blown out from the inside."

"Seriously?!" he cried, "Do Rin, Ed, or Alphonse know too?"

"Not yet," he said, "I need to get into contact with them still."

Yukio bit his lip and nodded. "I'll tell them," he said, "I'll make sure they know." "Thank you," Roy said with a nod before hanging up. Yukio set the phone down and continued with his work. The sooner he got it done the sooner he could head over and warn both Rin and the Elric brothers. He hated to be the barer of bad news, but he had no choice at the moment.

….

It was a bright, sunny day as Edward and Alphonse headed over to Rin's home. As the two alchemists walked down the street, the young group of exorcists who were looking around at the various city sights accompanied them. "We're almost there," Edward said, "His house should be just around the corner."

"I'm surprised you're able to get us here so quickly," Bon said, "Didn't you say you've been pretty much living in East City up until a month ago?"

"Yeah, but before I became a state alchemist, I was studying here in Central and I ended up spending a lot of time with Rin and Yukio at this address," he said.

"Oh, were you staying with them?" Shiemi asked.

Ed paused for half a minute before speaking again. "No... We were staying somewhere else," he said carefully. The other teenagers gave them odd looks but said nothing as they approached the door. They knocked on the door and less than thirty seconds later, the smiling demon spawn opening the door for them greeted them.

"Hey guys!" he said, "Come in and make yourselves at home! Mi casa es su casa!"

The teens filed in and looked around. "Nice place you got here," Shima said, "It reminds me of my great aunt's house."

"Thanks man," Rin said, "None of you are allergic to cats, right? I think there's still some cat hair floating around."

"You have a cat?" Konekomaru asked, perking up slightly. Izumo also seemed interested by this fact.

"Kinda," Rin said, "Kuro's a cat sidhe and he's kind on loan to my uncle to look after their house for a bit. They...had a little demon problem a while back."

The teens nodded, though Konekomaru looked a little disappointed. "That's too bad," he said.

"Wait, do you like cats?" Al asked.

Konekomaru scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess you could say that!" he said, "Why do you ask? Are you a fan of felines too?"

"That's an understatement!" Ed chuckled, "Al's crazy about them. He's always picking up strays. One time he even tried to hide them in his armor!" Al rubbed the back of his helmet in embarrassment while the other teens chuckled.

"It was out in the rain… I couldn't just leave her out there…" Al said.

"Aww that's so sweet!" Shiemi said.

"it wasn't sweet when we had to chase him down the halls to get him to give it up," Rin said with a snort, "We had to chase him all around eastern headquarters! He only stopped when he barreled down my brother."

This caused Shima to burst out laughing. "Man!" he said whipping his eyes, "I wish I had been there for that!"

"Was Yukio ok?" Shiemi asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, he was fine," Rin said, "So was the kitten. Though it was pretty shaken up when it landed on top of him. It did not like Al running with it one bit." "Now let's get to the food, huh?" Rin said, "You guys better enjoy this cause I busted my butt for you guys!" He led them over to a buffet where several delicious looking dishes were set out. There was grilled and seasoned cod, homemade potato dumpling soup, a large salad bowl, and some kind of fluffy dessert consisting of a coconut cookie crust with layers of cream cheese, butter pecan pudding, and whip cream topped with pecan crumbs.

"Go ahead and dig in," he said, "have as much as you like. I made enough to last myself a week!" The teens looked at him in surprise before grabbing some dishes and dealing themselves out some food. As they took their first bites, their eyes widened and they nearly dropped their silverware.

"This…" Izumo started.

"Is…" Bon continued.

"Absolutely amazing!" Shima finished, before scarfing down the rest of his meal.

"Man I haven't had anything like that before," Konekomaru said, "This really is great, Rin! Thanks you so much for inviting us over."

"You really have outdone yourself this time," Ed said, whipping his mouth before moving onto the dessert.

"Thanks!" Rin said, "I've been cooking for as long as I can remember, so I better be good!"

Shima then turned to Al. "Hey, dude!" he said, "What are you doing just standing around? You gotta try some of this stuff."

Shiemi, Al, Ed, and Rin all froze as they felt a sinking feeling in their collective stomachs. "Uhhhh…." Al started, "N-no thanks! I'm not hungry!" He said, holding his hands up in the air.

The teens gave him a confused look. "Aw come on, not even one bite?" he said, "This stuff is amazing. It's like eating a slice of heaven! You gotta at least try it." He tried to bring a hand up to Al's helmet with a fork in the other. "Why don't you just take that helmet off for a while and enjoy yourself," He started, reaching for his helm. Ed and Shiemi moved to stop him, but Rin already had by cutting him off with a shout.

"He can't!" Rin shouted, catching everyone's attention. They all stared at him in confusion as he quickly thought up a lie. "He-uh...He can't eat anything here," he explaiend, "Alphonse has terrible food allergies. He has to eat a special diet."

The teens' eyes widened in understanding. "Oh jeez…" Shima said moving away, "I hadn't realized...what kind of allergies do you have? Like a gluten allergy or something?"

Ed and Al didn't know what to say. They didn't know anything about allergies besides seasonal ones. Thankfully, Rin responded for them. "Yes," Rin automatically said, "A-and shellfish, and peanut butter...Oh! And he's lactose intolerant!" "S-So yeah. Ed's gotta make him some special food and it can't bee prepared around anything containing those things," Rin said.

The teens winced and gave the boy a pitying look. "Ouch...that must stink…" Bon said. He couldn't imagine living with so many allergies. He probably had to be extra careful considering the fact that epi-pens hadn't been invented yet.

Edward caught up to the lie and continued with it. "Yeah…," he lied, "But we didn't want to have Rin feed you Al's nasty diet food, so he ate before hand so you could enjoy some of Rin's best."

"That's...really sweet of you actually," Izumo said, looking at the boy, genuinely touched.

"Yeah," Konekomaru said, "Though if you ever want to eat with us, we'd be more than willing to eat that kind of food with you every once in a while if it makes you more comfortable."

"Though not often," Shima clarified though Bon smacked him upside the head, "What? You know gluten free food is terrible."

"Yeah but you don't need to say it out loud," Bon retorted, glaring at him, "At least not in front of him."

Ed and Al looked at these teens in awe. Even though Al's illness was fake, they still felt touched by how willing they were to accommodate Alphonse. "Thanks…" Alphonse said, "I'll keep that in mind. For now though you guys should just enjoy the food."

"Speaking of which," Bon said, "Is it alright if we eat in the living room? I don't know if you have specific rules for this stuff."

"Go ahead," Rin said, "Only if you don't mind me telling some more stories about crazy stuff Ed and I got up to." The teens looked at each other before smiling and moving to the living room.

….

"You're kidding me, you actually got that entire mind for a hundred pounds of rocks by tricking a guy into thinking it's gold?!" Izumo said in surprise.

"Ed did most of the work, but yeah," he said, "He's better at transmuting metals than I am."

"Well of course," Bon said, "You only do flame alchemy, right?"

"Well, no, actually," Rin said, "I can do more than flame alchemy, but I'm certainly not as good at it as Ed."

The teens gave confused looks. "What do you mean?" Konekomaru said, "Do you mean like basic stuff all alchemists need to know?"

"Kinda," Rin said, "I had to study like hell for the state alchemists exam, so I ended up learning a lot of general alchemy. I don't remember most of it now, but I do know a few tricks. Granted, I need a circle unlike Ed over here."

"Mind showing us a few things?" Konekomaru asked, "Ed's alchemy is great, but because he doesn't use circles. The only instance we've had of normal alchemy is what your brother has done."

"Sure!" Alphonse said, "We can even teach you a few things if you like."

"Wonderful!" a new voice called from the kitchen, "I'm glad you finally decided to teach me. Next you'll show me how to make a philosipher's stone, right?"

They all looked up to see Ling, Fu, and Lan Fan sitting on top of the counter, eating plates of food.

The teens including Ed nearly fell out of their seats. "What the hell?!" Bon cired, "Who the hell are these guys?! How did they get in here?!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Rin said, "Do I need to tie bells to your wrists? How do you keep getting in my house?"

"It's not our fault you keep forgetting to lock your doors," Lign said with a shrug, "By the way, this food is amazing. Are you sure I can't hire you as a personal chef?"

Rin smiled and he was about to respond when Ed spoke up. "Whether he says yes or not, he isn't now, so stop mooching off of him!" he said, crossing his arms, "You weren't invited, so get out."

"Come on!" Ling said, "We're all friends here! And Rin clearly made more than enough for everyone."

"Wait," Shima said, holding up his hands in a time out motion, "Can someone please explain what's going on? Who are these people? Are then any kind of threat or are you guys really friends?"

"Kinda?" Rin said with a shrug, "They sort of follow us around because Ling wants us to help him find the secret of immortality, but they're harmless enough."

"They're just really annoying," Ed said with a huff as he slumped into his seat.

"Brother!" Al chastised.

"What? it's true!" Ed responded.

The teens looked from the alchemists to the foreigners, only slightly less confused. "So wait…" Izumo said, "You three are looking for immortality? Why?"

"Yeah, not that I plan on dying anytime soon, but living forever would suck," Shima said.

"Oh it's not for myself," Ling said, "Well not entirely. I don't need to be immortal. I just need the secret to immortality." "You see, I'm actually one of the princes of the land of Xing," he explained, "I'm head of the Yao clan, and due to a current power struggle, if I want to protect my clan and secure the throne for myself, I must find the secret of immortality and present it to the current Emperor."

"Oh, I see!" Konekomaru said, "I suppose that makes sense. It would certainly secure your linage on the throne, though it seems like an impossible task."

"What will happen to your clan if you fail?" Shiemi asked with concern.

Ling frowned. "I'm afraid I have no clue," he said, "But if a stronger clan gains the throne, ours could be in serious danger."

Shiemi gave a worried look and walked towards him. Lan Fan and Fu watched her carefully as she did so. Even Ling looked some what cautious about her approach. "I hope things go well for you," she said, "It's nice to meet you! I'm-"

She was cut off by Lan Fan and Fu suddenly jumping in front of Ling protectively, knives poised at the girl's neck. Everyone looked shocked by this, especially Ed, Rin, and Al.

"You will not touch the young lord, monster!" LanFan stated firmly, narrowing her eyes at the blonde.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rin cried, "Does she look like a threat to you?! Lay off of her!"

"Yeah, leave Shiemi alone you freaks!" Bon said, "She couldn't hurt a fly if she wanted!"

Lanfan looked at him before continuing to speak. "Is that so?" she hissed, "because your friend is surrounded by the chi of a demon!"

Everyone looked shocked. "What?!" they cried.

"No I'm not a demon!" Shiemi cried hands in the air, "I mean, I have one with me...but he's harmless! I swear!" With that Nee popped out from where he had been hiding in her clothes. "See? He's my familiar!" She had left him with her luggage the other day but brought him with her today for some fresh air. Looks like that had been a mistake.

Fu, Ling, and Lan Fan looked confused. "I see no demon," Fu said.

Rin then facepalmed. "Damn it, that's right!" he hissed, "You guys can feel demons but you can't see them!"

The three Xingese warriors looked confused. "What do you mean we can't see them?" Ling asked, "We can see you, and we could see the that other one that attacked you."

"That's different, I'm only a half demon, and that guy was in a human form," Rin said, "Normally if you want to see a demon you need a wound from one of them."

"Well how does that change anything?" Lan fan questioned, although she had relaxed slightly, "How do WE know she is not just a demon in human form?"

Shiemi smiled. "Oh, I know!"she said, "Nee, could you hop up on the table and give me a tomato?"

The little demon squeaked and did as he had been commanded. A tomato plant with one fruit sprung from his stomach. The three Xingese warriors nearly jumped back in surprise at the sudden displacement of the chi and the plant that sprouted in mid air.

"Ok...I believe you…" Ling said.

"I'm sorry I attacked you," Lan Fan said, lowering her weapons further, "Burt I must ask: this demon of yours...is it dangerous?"

Shiemi blinked in surprise. "Dangerous? Oh no! Nee is a sweetheart," she said, "He helps me grow healing herbs and such to defend against other demons."

Ling nodded with interest as he plucked one of the fruit. "Huh…" he muttered as he examined it, tossing it in the air slightly, "It's like that bio alchemy Yukio could do…" He then smiled. "Very interesting. And I suppose since you said you were fighting demons that you are Miss Shura's students," he said as he turned back to the teenagers.

They all looked surprised aside from Rin. "Hey, how do you know our teacher?" Izumo asked.

"Yeah, we never told you about Miss Shura or any of these guys," Alphonse said.

"Oh, that's easy," he said, "Rin told me! Last night I helped her train him in sword fighting. I should be meeting up with them again tonight if there's a practice." He looked to Rin for confirmation and he nodded.

"Well since you guys are already here you might as well get comfortable and get to know everyone," Rin said, "You'll probably be meeting up with them again anyway in the future."

"Thanks! It's nice not being screamed at to leave for once," he said as he passed by Edward who rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't scream at you if you knocked on the door and asked to enter like a normal person…" he grumbled as he reclaimed his seat. Ling took his own in Roy's armchair and they had they latest round of introductions in the past few days. Then Rin attempted to demonstrate his alchemical knowledge that extended beyond flame alchemy. He was able to perform a few basic tricks such as paper folding, metal reshaping, and turning tea into orange juice. Konekomaru and Bon managed to perform the paper-folding trick and reshape metal but no one else was able to get there (partially because no one else could figure out how to draw a perfect circle).

"You know this is actually pretty fun," Bon said with a smile as he turned a sheet of tinfoil into a tiny dragon statue.

"Well, I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself," Izumo huffed as she threw her pencil on the table, "Seriously! How do you people draw perfect circles every time?"

Rin thought back to the months he spent with Roy trying to master drawing a perfect circle and how many trees that were killed and walls/pieces of furniture that were broken in the process. He could feel the same rage he had felt back then flood back for a moment as he almost broke his pencil. "...Practice," Rin said simply, voice kept in monotone. "...Anyways, you guys wanna see a trick Yukio showed me?" he said before pulling out another piece of paper and drawing on it, "Hey shiemi, can I have one of the tomatoes I Nee made earlier?"

"Oh, uh, sure," she said before handing it to him.

"Awesome, now watch this," he said. He placed it on the circle before placing his hands on it. The blue alchemical lightning sparked from it and surrounded the fruit. Once it was gone, in the tomato's place was a large, ripe strawberry. "Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah," Shima said, "Talk about a GMO."

"Are we sure this isn't a crime against nature?" Bon said.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "You have a demon that sprouts full grown plants in seconds, yet you're wondering if this is a crime against nature?" he asked.

Bon shrugged. "Fair enough," he responded.

"Does it still taste ok though?" Konekomaru asked.

"Well I guess there's only one way to find out," Ling said, reaching out for the transmuted strawberry, only to have his servers smack his hand away.

"Young Lord I would advise against it," Fu said, "The young man had said he had not practice this form in a while. It may look like a strawberry but it could easily have been made toxic."

Rin growled at him. "Hey! I'm right here, you know!" he snapped, "And I wouldn't do something as stupid as that, right guys?" He turned to Ed and Al. Edward shrugged. "It's unlikely but not impossible," Ed said, "Especially since it's been so long since you've done this."

Rin glared at him. "Wow, I really appreciate the vote of confidence there," he grumbled.

"Sorry Rin," Alphonse said, "It doubt you messed up. If anything l, the worst that happened is that it's probably just sour."

"Thank you!" Rin said with a smile, "see guys nothing to be afraid of. So who wants to eat it?"

The room was quiet. Rin pouted before reaching for it himself. He stopped however, when someone spoke up. "Um, I'll try it!" Shiemi said.

Rin turned to her and smiled brightly. "Thanks!" he said, "At least someone has some faith in my abilities." To be honest, she was a little nervous too, but she didn't want to see him upset. So she picked up the perfectly normal looking strawberry and took a bite out of it. Her eyes widened as she did so.

"Well?" he asked, "How does it taste?"

"It tastes…" she started, "...Like a tomato…"

There was an awkward silence before Ed, Al, Ling, and Shima began to laugh.

"Well, I guess that's better than it being poisonous!" Ling observed.

"A tomato by any other form will still taste just the same!" Shima added.

Rin growled. "Shut up…." he growled, blushing, "Hey, I'm out of practice, ok?!" Still the laughter persisted. Or at least it did until the front door swung open.

They all turned to see Yukio standing in the doorway slightly out of breath. "Yukio?" Rin said, "What are you doing home early? I thought you were super busy today."

"I did…" he said catching his breath, "But I had to get back here before the party was over."

"Well we're glad you showed up," Ling said, "It's good to see you again."

Yukio blinked as he noticed the Xingese prince and sighed. "Great..." he muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "This day just gets better…" "Anyways, Rin. Ed. I have something important to tell you," he said.

Rin sat up straight as he saw the severe look in his brother's eyes. "What is it?" He demanded, "What's wrong?"

"You were right," he said, "Scar is back in Central." Rin and Ed's eyes widened while Al shifted in surprise. The Xingese warriors and the exwires just looked confused, however.

"You're serious?!" Rin said, standing up.

"Yeah, Dad called me," he said, "They found six victims this morning."

"Damn it," Ed said, "That bastard...He's really on the move…"

"Woah, woah, Hold up," Bon said, standing up, "Who is Scar?"

"Yes…" Ling piped up, his amused smile was now gone, "Who is this person?"

"He's a mass murder," Ed explained, "But he-"

"What?!" Shima cried, "there's a murder loose in Central?! And he killed six people in one night?!" The other teens began to panic, sending a barrage of questions their way.

"CALM DOWN!" Ed shouted, causing them all to fall silent, "None of you have anything to worry about. The only ones who have to worry are Rin and I!"

"What do you mean?" Lan Fan questioned, "I don't see why we don't have to be worried but you do."

"Because he only goes after state alchemists," Rin explained, "He's got a vendetta against them so he's trying to kill any and all state alchemists he can find. He especially seems to not like us though."

"What the heck?!" Izumo said, "What's wrong with this guy? Why is he going after state alchemists of all people?"

"Let's just say his reasoning is not entirely unjust…" Ed said with a sigh, folding his arms, "There was a war a few years back and he was a victim of it. State alchemists played a big part in the destruction of his home and so now he's seeking revenge." Ed hated that he had to oversimplify this, but they really didn't need to know everything right now. Especially considering Roy Mustang's involvement in the whole thing. "Knowing this, we better start heading home," Ed said, "We're going to have to figure out what to do about this…we can't just hide from this guy until he catches up to us…"

The teens exchanged looks in a silent conversation before one of them spoke up. "Hey," Shima said, causing him to stop, "Um...maybe we should head back with you. Our hotel is on the way right? Besides, strength in numbers and all that."

Ed and Al gave confused look. "Look," Bon said, standing up, "We're supposed to protect you and Rin, and maybe we can't actually take on this guy by any means, but Us walking back with you might at least lower the chances of him attacking you, right? He's not going to want to deal with a crowd."

Ed and Al blinked before smiling. "Thanks! We really appreciate it!" Al said. "Ling, what about you? Do you want to head back with-" he started but stopped when he saw the three people from Xing were gone.

There was an awkward silence before Yukio spoke up. "Well...I suppose that's your answer then…" he muttered.

And with that, the exwires and the Elrics headed out from the Mustang house. "Are you sure you two are going to be fine?" Shiemi asked nervously.

Rin and Yukio smiled. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine!" Rin said, waving her off, "It'll take a lot more than one guy to take us down!"

She bit her lip but nodded. "Alright…" she said, "Stay safe you two! Call us tomorrow at the hotel, alright? I want to know if you're alright."

"Alright! We will!" Yukio called as they walked away.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine," Al said, "you'll see."

"Yeah, those brothers are sturdier than you think," Ed said. Shiemi nodded, but she still couldn't help but feel nervous. Finally after a minute, she turned to face forward as they walked away. When they did, Rin and Yukio's smiles faded. As they felt their own worries set in.

….

Shura and Rin stepped inside the factory again and began unloading the equipment. "It's strange that your friend wasn't there waiting with you like last time," she said, "Especially when I hear that the murderer you were worried about really is in town."

Rin shrugged. "He could have forgotten," he said, "Or he might be busy. He's probably Ok since I saw him this afternoon. He said he might come, but I don't know if he decided otherwise."

Shura nodded before pulling out the candles. "Well, there's no point in waiting for him if we don't know if he's even going to show up," she said, "But if he is going to eventually, then let's start with this."

Rin huffed. "Aw, come on!" Rin cried throwing his hands in the air, "Can't we do something else instead? Something that will actually help me?"

"I'm sorry, but were you able to figure out how to summon and control your flames in the past 24 hours?" she asked.

Rin looked away and pouted. "No…" he muttered.

She then pushed him down by his shoulders into a sitting position on the ground. "Then pop a squat, kid," she said, "Cause you've got work to do." He glared at her as she set the candles out in front of him, but complied anyways. However, no matter what he did, he just seemed to get worse. After thirty minutes of wasting good candles, he finally gave up, throwing his hands into the air in anger. "GRRRR THIS IS BULLSHIT!" he snapped, "Why can't I get it right?!"

Shura shrugged. "These things take time kid," she said, "Rome wasn't build in a day."

"Yeah, but I already know how to summon them perfectly with flame alchemy!" he retorted, "Why can't I do it now?"

Shura narrowed her eyes in thought while stroking her chin. "Wait, are you treating this as if you were still using flame alchemy?" she asked. Rin blinked before thinking about it and slowly nodding. "Alright, then how about you try this instead," she said, "Stop trying to focus on the air around it or whatever it is you do, and try just imagining what it is you want to set alight covered in your fire." Rin raised an eyebrow at her. "Look I know it's a stretch, but just try it," she said.

Rin rolled his eyes before turning back and trying again. This time, while they didn't light simultaneously, they did light without issue. "Hey it worked!" Rin said with a smile.

Shura sighed. "Well that's a relief," she said, "Now keep practicing kid." Rin nodded and continued for twenty minutes until he had finally gotten it right.

"Woohoo!" Rin cheered, pumping a fist in his hair as he was finally able to command his flames completely. "I did it!" he said, "Finally! I'm passed this crap!"

Shura chuckled as she slowly clapped. "Well done kiddo," she said, "But you're still not ready to use your sword yet.

Rin turned and frowned at her. "Aw, come on!" he cried, "Why not?!"

"Because you still need to learn to use a normal sword," she said as she got up and summoned her own sword, "What do you think you are, the hero of a bad action flick? One day of sword fighting does not a master make. Why do you think people spend years practicing?" Rin sighed as he got up after her and picked up a blunted sword from her bag. "Too bad your buddy isn't here…" she said, "I really haven't had practice sparring with someone so inexperienced. No offence."

"Some taken," Rin grumbled.

Just as they were about to start, a window over twenty feet above them swung open and something flew through it. Ling landed in a kneeling position on the ground in front of them before quickly leaping back up. "Sorry I'm late," he said.

"Well Rin, looks like you're in luck," she said, "Wish you had shown up sooner, princey. We've only got about thirty minutes left of practice."

Ling raised an eyebrow. "What?" he said, "I can't be that," he said, "didn't last time go two hours?"

"Yeah, but we can't afford that this time," she said, "I have to get this kid home and then pick up my students and take them back here to meet with someone." Pride smiled from the corner as he listened in on this. Foolish humans. They didn't even know he was there. He slunk forward slightly to hear better. Maybe he could find out what exactly they were meeting about. "That doesn't matter though," she said, "If you wanted to really get a chance to learn anything, you should have shown up on time."

"Yeah, where were you dude?" Rin asked, "You know we were meeting in the same spot."

"Oh, well I was meeting with Edward," he said. The two others looked surprised, as did Pride. He slunk forward a little farther to hear better.

"Really? what were you talking about?" Rin asked.

Ling was about to speak before he paused, sensing the presence of something in the area. He looked up in the corner where Pride was. The Homunculus quickly slunk away, realising he had been noticed. Ling frowned. "Ling?" Rin said, "Is something wrong?"

"Oh?" he said, "sorry...We were...just talking about that Scar fellow that came back in town. It was worrying him and Alphonse quite a bit."

Rin sighed. "Well they shouldn't be quite as worried," he said, "He may be after what ever state alchemist that crosses his past, but it's me who he hates the most."

Ling and Shura looked surprise. "Really why?" she asked.

"He thinks I'm a demon," Rin said, running a hand through his hair.

Both blinked and exchanged looks. "But…" Ling said, "You are a demon...That is correct, right?"

"Yes...no…" Rin said before huffing, "Whatever! Let's just get to practicing." Both shrugged before agreeing with him and getting to work. Meanwhile, pride slinked away. He wasn't going to get anymore information out of the prince, and he didn't want to risk being spotted again, so he decided to leave. Despite the prince catching onto him, he was still able to get some information...looks like he would be a returning in an hour for more.

….

Pride slipped in the corners of the building. His shadow had followed the group all the way to the abandoned factory where the had previously been practicing the demon spawn earlier during the day. he was lucky he found out they were meeting here again ahead of time. It meant he didn't have to try and chase down their vehicle to get here. His shadows may be fast, but a car could definitely move faster than him. Therefore, as they arrived, he was already safely tucked away in a corner waiting for them.

The young exorcists looked around carefully as they entered, following behind Shura. "Really? An abandoned factory?" Izumo said, "Don't you think we should be meeting somewhere a little more safe? After all, this place was probably shut down for a reason."

"She does have a point," Konekomaru noted, "Plus this isn't exactly the safest area in town. Are you sure this is an ok place to meet?"

"Yeah it's fine," Shura said, stretching her arms over her head, "I've been practicing with Rin here for a few days. It's completely-" She stopped as she saw several Koaltars floating in the corner. "Well that can't be good," she muttered. Pride mentally cursed. He forgot these things were attracted to his shadows at night. The woman was staring almost directly at him. He doubted she could actually see him, but he didn't like the fact that her attention was focused on him so much.

"What's the big deal?" Shima asked, "It's just a couple Koltars. They're harmless."

"True…" Shura said, turning back to him, "There's probably nothing to worry about." The shadow homunculus relaxed slightly. "But Koltars can be a sign that another demon is present," she said before pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and pricking her finger on it, "So I think it might be best to clean house." Pride watched carefully, preparing to counter whatever attack she may dish out. She wiped her bleeding thumb on the piece of paper and let it drop to the ground. "Naga, we need a barrier, stat," she announced, "Get rid of any low-level demons hiding out here." A giant pure white snake slithered out of the piece of paper. It slithered around the room, circling wider and wider until it reached the edges of the room. Pride attempted to stab the demon to get it to leave his corner be, but as soon as he touched it, he was scorched with a bright hot flame. Pride hissed and pulled back, but as the demon continued to circle, he found his shadow being pushed and squeezed out of the room through a crevice in the wall until he was completely outside the building. The homunculus was completely boggled as to what was going on until he the snake stopped and sunk into the ground, forming a white circle encompassing the building.

Pride blinked in surprise. Had he...just been thrown out? Well, he had to say he hadn't been expecting that… No matter. He'd just have to sneak back inside. Pride attempted to pass over the circle, but as he tried he felt a horrible burning sensation overcome him. He flinched, moving back in surprise. How?! How was that possible?! He followed the circle and tried to find some place to cross the circle. However, each time he tried he felt the same horrible burn and got kicked back as if a solid force had pushed him away. Pride growled in anger as he became frustrated. Curse that woman! However, he couldn't let this stop him. He had to find a way in as soon as possible.

…..

Meanwhile, Shura was sitting on top a railing separating the factory floor from the observation deck about ten feet above. The teens were standing on said factory floor, milling about as they waited for the military personnel to arrive.

"UGH!" Izumo said, "This is taking forever! Where are those guys?"

"Yeah, It's already passed eight," Bon said, checking his watch, "You know for military men, they aren't very punctual."

"Just be patient," Shura said filing her nails, "They'll be here soon enough." Sure enough, only a few minutes after she had said that, the door creaked open and five people entered the Room. There was Roy, a blonde woman, a tall man with glasses, a giant, almost bald man with a mustache; and a portly red-haired man. "See? told ya," she said, "Hey, Sparky. How's it hanging?"

Roy glared at her while the others looked slightly confused. Hughes recognized the voice. This was the exorcist from before that had called them up? She looked so young! In fact if he hadn't known any better, he would have sworn she was one of the students too. However, he supposed he it wasn't impossible. After all, before Ed, Roy had been the youngest state alchemist at the age of 19, only a year above enlisting age. Becoming an exorcist was probably an easier process for a younger person by comparison, especially considering her students were roughly the same age as Edward and the twins.

Riza was mildly intrigued by the group. She had no idea how exorcists operated, and what she saw before her certainly didn't help alleviate her confusion. Her students looked like...well, students. Normal high school students that is. They looked like kids whose biggest worry was their next test grade, whether they can make it to their friends next sporting event, or if their crush got their love note. No one would ever suspect these children of being trained to fight off monstrosities like what she had seen below lab 3, especially not the young blonde girl she could see in the back of the group who was avoiding making eye contact.

Breda apparently agreed as he spoke up. "Uh, Roy? Are you sure this is the right group?" he asked, "Are you sure Shiro sent these people here to help us out?"

"I'm sure," he said, "Miss Shura was Shiro's apprentice. She learned under him for many years."

"Yup," the woman said, "I'm a master at sword fighting, a great shot, and have some basic experience in espionage." "And my students are learning all that from me and more," she continued.

The large man with a mustache stepped forward and took her hand in his own. "It's a pleasure to meet you young lady," he said with a polite bow, "I am Major Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong-arm alchemist. Any friend of Shiro's is a friend to me and my family, especially if they intend to support us in our cause!" He looked her in the eye as he said those words with a nod. Pink sparkles surrounding him as he spoke.

Shura blinked before stopping herself from snorting in amusement. "Well what do you know, chivalry isn't dead…." she muttered, "Thanks, Major. I'm glad to hear that." The man then relinquished her hand and stood up straight again.

The teens looked at him with bewilderment. "Did that guy physically sparkle?" Shima whispered to Bon.

"I...think so?" he responded.

"How is that even possible?!" Konekomaru hissed.

As if acknowledging they were talking about him, Armstrong turned to them, spooking them slightly. However, he did not seem to pay any mind to their conversation. "So you are Miss Shura's students," he observed, "I assume you shall be helping us in the future as well! Might we know your names?"

"They are Izumo Kamiki, Renzo Shima, Konekomaru Miwa, Ryugi Suguro, and Shiemi Moriyama," Colonel Mustang explained, gesturing to each one of them, "Children, these are my associates. Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, and of course, Major Armstrong, a fellow state alchemist."

"Pleasure to meet you kids!" Hughes said, stepping forward, "I'm looking forward to having some of you stay with me and my family. It's been a little while since we've had guests. Though I must warn you, My daughter's going to be home with you so I hope you've had some experience with babysitting. Don't worry. She shouldn't give you too much trouble! She's the sweetest little girl in the world!"

Roy sighed. "Hughes, this is not the time for daughter stories!" He growled.

Hughes rolled his eyes. "I know that!" he said, "Jeez Roy, you act like I can't be professional when I need to. You should know better of me."

Roy sighed. "Sorry…" he muttered.

Izumo raised an eyebrow at him. "Wait, did you say we'd be staying with you?" she questioned.

"That's correct," the Colonel confirmed, "You will all be separated and staying with each of these four people." Roy then pulled out a list. "Izumo and Shiemi, you will be staying on the Armstrong estate, pretending to be working as gardeners," he read off. The two girls exchanged looks. "Suguro, Shima, you will be staying with Hughes," he continued, "Konekomaru, you will be staying with Breda. Shura, You'll be with Lieutenant Hawkeye."

Shura raised an eyebrow. "Wait, why not have any of us with that Havock guy?" she asked, "Just saying, wouldn't it be less suspicious if you had one of us stay with him, claiming to be an assistant while he gets used to his disability or something?" Previous flirting with the guy aside, Shura really did wonder why he hadn't pair one of the kids up with him. Not only would it be less suspicious, but it would keep him from being targeted by demons if they had an exorcist or exorcist in training around him.

The four officers exchanged glances before Roy spoke again. "Unfortunately, Jean will not be staying in Central for much longer. Once he is out of the hospital, he will be moving back to the country and retiring from military service. Shura frowned before nodding in understanding. "If there are no further questions, Maes, go ahead and hand out the addresses and Visas," he continued.

Maes stepped forward and handed out pieces of paper containing the addresses and the small green card allowing them to stay in this country. Bon stared at his in surprise. "Wait, how did you get us these so quickly?" he questioned.

"We were able to because they aren't real visas," Roy explained, "Maes forged them for you. Don't go flashing them around too much. They may be able to fool the average officer that will check them, but they may not fool higher ups." "Your assigned cover story is this: you are friends of Yukio from Xing, coming here thinking he could help you get work. On your way into the country, you managed to apprehend the individual that had kidnapped Edward and Rin. Got it?" Roy said. The children all nodded. "Good," he said before turning to leave, "Tomorrow you will head to your new temporary homes. I suggest not loitering around here for too much longer. This isn't the kind of place in which you want to hang around." With that, the military officers headed out the door.

A few minutes passed before Shura spoke up. "Well, you heard the man," she said, picking up her sword and heading out the door herself, "Come on. I want to get back to the hotel and sleep." The teens followed after her, reading the peices of paper they had been given. Konekomaru, Sheimi, and Izumo were surprised to find that tucked into the paper with the address there was a message.

They read:

The person you are staying with does not know about demons and does not have a temptant. It would be preferred that you do not give them information about the subject until I have debriefed them.

-Colonel Mustang

The teens raised an eyebrow and shared looks with each other as they exited.

…

Pride circled the building angrily, staying just outside the ring the snake demon had created. Every time he had tried to penetrate the ring, even from above, he had been bounced off in the most painful way. He was getting more and more frustrated. if he couldn't find a weak point in the field, he was going to miss-

The officers walked out of the building and pride froze, hiding in the shadows. As he watched he growled in frustration. He had missed the whole meeting! All because of that little bimbo and her damned serpentine familiar. Speaking of which, she and her group was the next to leave. All the teens filed out to their car and Pride continued to glare from the shadows. The woman turned back and summoned her familiar from the ground, causing the circle to disappear again as she stepped inside.

Pride felt anger well up inside him as he watched them leave. He could kill them if he wanted to. Or at least try. But with that sword the woman had been carrying, there was a chance she could escape and blow his cover. If they knew there was a homunculus like him that could spy on them from the shadows, then soon enough they would all figure out that trick to keep him from listening in.

….Well. at least they knew now that these exorcists were in deed helping Mustang, though whether they were just after Astaroth or not remained a mystery.


	45. Like Greyhounds in the Slips

It was a warm, sunny afternoon as the five exwires walked around the market area. They had finished up packing up their things again to move to their temporary housing with the Colonel's friends that evening, and now they were wandered through the shops with the pocket money Edward had given them to look for stuff for lunch. While they were able to buy breakfast at the hotel, they had already checked out of the hotel, so they couldn't eat lunch there. Plus they wanted to get out and see the town. So here they were strolling the streets looking for a nice deli or cafe to stop at, unfortunately at the moment they weren't having such luck.

"How did we wander into the Farmer's market?" Shima asked glancing around at all the stalls.

"I know...this city is insane," Bon said, scowling at the map.

"I'm sure we'll find the dining district eventually," Konekomaru, "This place is shaped like a circle. If we keep heading left, we should at least bump into a sign directing in the right way."

"Or we can keep going in circles forever…" Shima complained.

"Umm, maybe we can check out what's around here?" Shiemi suggested, "If it's anything like the ones from when I was little, I'm sure there are plenty of fresh baked items and vendors for snacks." The four others exchanged looks before shrugging.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Bon said, "Let's scope out the area and meet back here in ten minutes." With that the group of teens dispersed among the crowds. As they did so, Shiemi was regretting more and more. She felt like she was being pushed and pulled among the people in the crowd. She backed herself out until she had walked out of the street and into an alleyway; she clutched her chest as she calmed herself down. She hadn't expected to feel crushed like that. Granted, the last time she had been in a farmer's market was when she was six and used helping her grandmother unload grapes and other fruits she had grown to sell. Before he legs had gotten really bad, her grandmother used to have a stall at the local market to bring in some extra money to pay for better gardening equipment and fertilizers. However, standing behind a table to set out fruits and veggies and being stuck in a crowd full of people were two very different experiences. As she calmed herself down, she heard a voice speak to her.

"Hey, you ok kid?" it said. She nearly jumped as she turned to see a strange man in white clothing looking down at her with furrowed brows. A long grey coat that came down to his knees covered him. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he continued, "Some creep wasn't bothering you, was he?"

She blinked at him before giving an awkward laugh. "Oh no, I'm fine," she said, "I'm fine. I'm just not used to large crowds. They make me anxious."

The man smirked. "I suppose that means you aren't from Central then," he said, "Where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from…" she began trying to remember her cover story, "Xing...I'm here visiting a friend in Amestris."

The man blinked in surprise. "Wait are you telling me you crossed that desert all by yourself?" he questioned. Honestly he was starting to wonder if it was even a challenge. If someone as young as Mei and her panda could do it as well as this tiny, slightly frail looking girl, he was wondering why more people hadn't come over.

"Oh no!" she said, "I hadn't crossed on my own. I crossed with some friends."

"Oh…" he said, "Well, welcome to Amestris, little lady. I'm Dolcetto."

"Thank you. My name is Shiemi Moriyama," she responded, "It's nice to meet you." She then blinked as she realized what she was doing. She was talking to some strange man she didn't even know in the middle of an alleyway in a foreign country with no one else around. She was pretty sure this was far beyond the line of not talking to strangers. "Umm…" she started, "I'm sorry but if you don't mind me asking...Why are you just standing in the middle of an alley way?"

He frowned before gesturing to the small stall selling cured meats. "I was going to buy something from there, but I don't have enough money," he explained. It was partially true. Originally he was trying to buy from there. He was sick of vegetable stew. It's all he'd had since they got out of the countryside. Not only was his human half craving meat but so was his dog half. Currently he was trying to figure out how to either steal some or find a good target to pickpocket. Shiemi looked at him pityingly as she realized the state of his clothing. They were filthy and in places it looked like the seams were getting worn out. The poor man must be homeless. Who knows the last time he had a good meal…

Her heart ached for the man so she pulled out her coin purse and pulled out some of the money Ed had given them. Not all of it of course, but most likely enough to buy himself salami. "Here," she said thrusting the hand containing the cash out to him.

The chimera blinked in surprise as the girl shoved the money in his face. "What are you doing?" he questioned, "Don't you need that for yourself?"

"Not really," she said, "I'm not going to be able to head back in there without panicking. Besides, you probably need it more than me."

The man blinked before slowly accepting it. "Thanks…" he said slowly. He hadn't expected this. If anything, he had expected to have to steal something that day, whether it be the product itself or the money. He never had someone just give him money before. In fact, he hadn't had a normal person be all that kind to him since he became a chimera aside from Mei. Though he had to admit, joining a gang and then joining up with a serial killer probably didn't help. But he was digressing. He still wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"No worries," she said, "I have to go meet up with my friends. Take care of yourself, Sir!" With that, Shiemi ran off in the direction of their meeting place. Dolcetto watched her leave while smiling.

Shiemi ran along the sidewalk until she came across her small group of friends. "Yo!" Shima called, "Did you find any vendors?"

She slowed down, as she got closer. "Oh, ahh, no…" she admitted, "I couldn't stand being stuck in the crowds."

Konekomaru shrugged. "That's fine," he said, "Bon got a recommendation for a place a little ways from here. Come on." With that the small group started heading down the road before turning onto Dunsinane Street. When they did they were surprised to find another huge crowd in the street.

"What the hell?" Bon said in confusion scratching his head, "What on earth is going on here?"

"I dunno, maybe some kind of street performance?" Shima said, "Is that guy standing on top of a flag pole?!"

Izumo squinted. She could see a small red and black figure on top of the pole. Her eyes widened in realization before she groaned in annoyance. "No, but I definitely see a fool up there," she said, face palming, "Does that red coat look familiar to anyone else?"

They all blinked in surprise as they all came to the same conclusion. "You're kidding…" Bon muttered.

"And don't forget! I'm your friendly neighborhood state alchemist, Edward Elric!" The tiny blonde announced from a top the pole.

Bon's eye twitched as they all looked on blankly. "...the hell…" he muttered before turning to the others, "Well, I certainly want an explanation. Who else is with me?" They all nodded before they began to push through the crowd to get to the front.

…

Edward smirked, posing dramatically as the crowd cheered his name. Things were all going according to plan. At this rate, if Scar really was in the city, he was bound to catch wind of him now. And once he showed up, getting those homunculi to do so would be child's play.

"Hey! Ed!" a familiar voice suddenly shouted. The state alchemist was pulled from his train of thought as he looked down to see Bon and the others standing below the pole at the front of the ring shaped crowd. "What the heck are you doing up there?" He questioned.

Edward blinked. What were they doing here? He couldn't have them be in danger when Scar showed up. He had to get them out of here. "Hold on," he said, coming down. "Alright, what do you guys want?" He asked as he touched the ground.

"We want to know when you decided to become some sort of roadside attraction," Izumo said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, "Don't you realize how dangerous what you guys are doing is?"

"Yeah didn't you say that Scar guy was," Shima started before Ed shushed him.

"I'll explain everything, but you have to come with me," he said. The teens exchanged looks before following him over to a cafe. Once they had gotten there, Ed sat them down and explained what was going on.

Once he had finished Bon only had this to say. "Are you insane?!" he practically cried, causing Ed to have to shush him. The boy jabbed a finger at the people surrounding them at the cafe. Bon glared at him but complied. "Don't you realize how dangerous this is? You could die! And what if the homunculi do show up and you can't handle them?" he questioned.

"Well no plan is without risks, but if worst comes to worse, we do at least know one way to kill one," Ed said, but didn't elaborate, "Don't worry, we have our bases covered."

"Oh yeah?" Izumo said, "What about if they send in demons to try and kill scar?"

Ed paused, face going blank. Woops. He'd forgot about that. "...Ok maybe there's a minor flaw in our plan…" he muttered before realization dawned on him, "Wait, do any of you think you can get in contact with Shura here quickly?"

Bon frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "What are we, chopped liver?" He questioned, "You do realize that the whole reason why we're here is to protect you from demons, right?"

Ed frowned. "I realize that, but I don't want you in harms way if they send something out of your league in," Edward said.

"Well what's the strongest thing they have sent after you so far?" Konekomaru asked.

"Well, they haven't sent anything after me personally, but Rin's had to face off against several ones that he called neberious," Edward said, 'I don't know how those rank

in power though."

"Ugh...Seriously?" Shima said, slouching, "Not those things again…"

"So you have experience with them?" Ed asked.

"Yeah...We ended up having to fight two for our exwire exam. Those are pretty high class demons…" Konekomaru said, stroking his chin, "But we could probably take one or two on if we all stay together."

"Especially considering the fact that we know their fatal verse," Bon said proudly as he crossed his arm.

Ed blinked in surprise. "You do?" the boy questioned. Bon and Konekomaru both nodded in response. Edward then smirked. "Well I guess I can't protest to that!"

…

"HRRRAAAAAAAH!" Rin cried as he charged forth at Shura. Their swords clashed against each other and shrieked as the blades slid against one another. The twenty six year old pushed him back, causing him to backpedal as she pointed her sword at him. The teen growled before once again trying to rush her. He swung at her left side and then her right, but she blocked each blow expertly.

After having been pushed away, the teenager tried to swipe across her stomach, throwing his whole body into the motion, twisting it around dramatically. She glared at him and then decided to kick him in the side as he finished his rotation, sending him flying. "OW! Hey, what was that for?!" He cried as he got up, clutching his side.

"For being an idiot, that's what. What were you thinking with that stupid spinning trick?" she said, "This isn't the movies kid. Do that in a real sword fight and you end up as part of a human shish kabob." She then scratched her chin as she smirked. "Well, a half human one anyways…" she said before frowning, "All joking aside, spinning like that is a terrible idea. Even when you're not in a fight with another sword fighter, you're leaving yourself completely open for an attack when you're doing that. Plus you're clueing your target into your next move which is always a bad decision."

"But Ling does that sometimes when I fight him…" Rin argued.

Shura sighed. "Honestly? That's because he doesn't take sparing with you seriously," She said, "He's not the one improving from it, so he allows himself to mess around. I kinda wish he would take it a bit more seriously, since it's definitely clear now that he's setting a bad example…" "Speaking of, where is Prince Ponytail, anyways?" She said, glancing around, "didn't you tell him we were having a second earlier practice today?"

Rin shrugged. "Didn't get a chance too," he said, "I haven't seen him all day."

Shura shrugged. "Oh well, we'll just see him later then," she said, "Now, get back into your stance." As she said that she got back into hers.

"Are we going to be doing any other kinds of practice?" Rin huffed, "Not that I mind, but I doubt I'm going to come across a demon with a sword."

"I would have more for you right now to work on, but unfortunately, we're limited by technology…" she muttered, "Unless, do you know if pitching machines exist in this universe?"

Rin thought for a moment before shrugging. Shura sighed at this. "Well then, We'll just have to make due with what we have…" she muttered as she mulled over in her head how she could replace that in his training. "We'll figure that out as we go along," she finally decided, "Now, let's get back to work."

….

Shima sighed as he and Bon sat atop the roof they were waiting on, watching Ed and Al from below. They had been waiting almost twenty minutes. Konekomaru, Izumo, and Sheimi were stationed on a building a little under half a block to the north and Ling and his gang were stationed a half a block to the south. They all had a set of walkie-talkies with them to alert the two if Scar was spotted. Ed and Al were currently talking to Mustang, but aside from that, nothing was happening. "Jeez, how long do you think this is going to take?" the pink haired boy complained, "Shouldn't that serial killer guy have heard about ed by now?"

"Stop griping," Bon responded, "1. The word's having to travel by ear here. They don't have twitter to help this blow up. 2. This guy is a killer not a stalker. Ed isn't his only target you know. And 3-"

"Wait! There's someone coming!" Shima said leaning over the edge of the roof. Bon raised an eyebrow and crawled towards it. Sure enough there was someone walking towards the small group, wearing a grey hood. Ed and the others seemed to notice him as well as they saw them all turn to them. "Think that's him?" He asked.

The hood was pulled down to reveal a dark skinned man with white hair and an "X" shaped scar over his face. "If it's not then I don't know who else it could be," Bon said.

The man suddenly lunged for Ed, palm outstretched. The boy jumped out of the way, causing the man's palm to meet the ground where he had been standing, causing it to explode with alchemic light. "Christ…" Shima said, "This guy isn't some run of the mill murderer then. For Ed's sake I hope those homunculi show up soon." Bon nodded as they watched the battle unfold.

….

Dolcetto licked the remaining seasoning off his fingers as he finished up the small summer sausage he had bought. He still couldn't believe he ate the entire thing. He really owed that girl one. He hadn't had something that good in forever! He had no idea you could get deer meat like that in Amestris but apparently you could.

Dolcetto wiped his mouth as he continued down the street but stopped when he heard screaming. His head whipped around as he looked for the source of the noise. Several people were running down the street and away from something. He looked around in confusion. What the heck was going on? When one of them bumped into him, he stopped them by grabbing their shoulder. "Hey, what's the deal?" he asked, "What's with everybody?"

"The Alchemist Killer is down town!" the woman cried, worry and fear clear in her eyes, "He's trying to kill the Fullmetal alchemist and is trashing downtown in the process!"

Dolcetto's eyes widened. What?! What the heck was Scar thinking, attacking an alchemist during the day? The dog chimera ran down the street in the direction of the chaos. He knew he was getting closer as he heard explosions in the distance. He ran faster until he came upon the discourse. Sure enough, Scar was facing off against Edward and Alphonse. The boy and the suit of armor flipped through the air, dodging his attacks while clapping their hands to prepare their own. One particular attack from the suit of armor hit Scar in the side and sent him careening into a wall.

Dolcetto growled as he saw this and gripped the hilt of his sword and charged forward. He wasn't going to let Scar face them alone. After all, two against one was hardly fair. Plus these two were friends with that Shaitan kid. If nothing else, helping to take them down would give the boy a taste of what it had felt like for him when he had killed Greed and the rest of his friends.

"HRRRRAAAAA!" he cried, swinging his blade at Edward. The boy caught him in the corner of his eye just quick enough to duck underneath the katana like a limbo stick. His eyes were wide with surprise at the sudden attack. He clapped his hands and touched the ground, launching himself into the air. "What the heck?" he muttered as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Who was this guy?! Where did he come from? He couldn't help but think he looked familiar. His eyes flashed as he realized where he had seen him before. "Wait a minute," he said, "You were part of the gang at the devil's nest!"

"Yeah," Dolcetto growled, "I was, until your military buddies that you called in came in and slaughtered all my friends!"

As the memory of what happened in the devil's nest came back to him, He felt a pang of guilt and regret. "Wait a minute, those soldiers weren't my friends! I didn't-" he started, but didn't get a chance to finish as the swordsmen lunged for him again.

"Yeah right, kid," he snarled, "There just happened to be a military battalion located in Dublith at the precise moment you were. What do you think I am, an idiot?" He then slashed again at the young alchemist again. The boy once again dodged before having to leap away from Scar's awaiting palm. Ed swallowed before clapping his hands and pulling a spear out of the ground. Even with his brother helping he was going to have more than his hands full trying to stay alive between these two lunatics.

The exwires agreed as they watched from above.

"What the heck?" Shima cried as he watched from above, "Who the heck is this? Where the hell did he come from?"

Bon frowned as he watched the battle rage below. "I have no clue, but this isn't good!" he growled, "Ed needs back up, stat."

"Well I don't think we're going to be able to help…" Shima said.

Bon raised an eyebrow and looked to him in confusion. "What are you-" he stopped when he finished turning around. On the other side of the roof were at least ten ghouls, growling at them menacingly.

"Because of them!" Shima said, eyeing them carefully as he reached for his rod.

"Damn it...looks like we have out work cut out for us," Bon said as he reached into his bag to pull out his prayer beads.


	46. Between the Dragon and his Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone!

Rin walked down the street with Kurikara slung over his shoulder. He had finished up with his practice and was now heading home. People milled around sidewalk, entering and exiting shops leisurely as they looked for the best deals. He took a deep breath as he smiled. It really was a gorgeous day. He was glad he could be out and about. He couldn't remember the last time he had just gone for a walk in Central. He glanced around at all the buildings. As he did so, he noticed a familiar face among the crowds. The face of a young girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. "Hey! Winry!" He called. She turned and smiled to him, waving as he ran up to her. "Hey, what's up?" He said as he got to her.

"Nothing much, just buying groceries," she said, "How are you doing?"

"Good, but out of curiosity, where were you the other day during the party?"he asked.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, something had come up," she explained, "I had to go see Elicia again and replace part of the metal leg to make it lighter for her. I've never had to make prosthetics for someone under ten, particularly a metal one, so I ended up making it slightly too heavy and because of that, harder to use for her physical therapy."

"Jeez that sucks…" Rin said.

"Yeah, I enjoyed building it for her but I always hate to hear when a customer has an issue with my product, especially if they're my friend. Even if it's something that I can't control, it still makes me feel like my work wasn't good enough," she said furrowing her brow.

Rin frowned. "Hey, don't beat yourself up. Your work is great! The fact that it can keep up with Ed and all the crazy crap he does is proof alone," he said.

"I know that it's great," she said, shrugging, "If anyone tried to say otherwise, I would show them what for! But you know what they say: you're your own worst critic."

Rin looked up in thought. "Nah, pretty sure that's Shura right now. She's been putting me through the wringer with sword fighting practice," he said, causing her to giggle, "Seriously, she she kicked me in the side for screwing up once…"

"Sounds like you need a break, " she responded, "Hey, I've got an idea! I was out here shopping for groceries and was about to head over to the farmers market to get some fresh apples and cinnamon, but I still have a few more things to grab here. Do you think you could pick some up for me and then we bake one together?"

Rin smiled. "That sounds great,"he said, "Sure, I can go ahead and pick that up for you!"

Winry smiled at him. "Thanks Rin," she said, "See yan in a bit!" Ron nodded before waving and running off.

….

Almost as soon as the fight broke out the news of it had exploded across town. Within twenty minutes, almost everyone knew about it, but the homunculi knew about it long before then. And due to the disorientation of the police, they had the sneaking suspicion that this fight wasn't some random attack. Just to be sure they had first sent some ghouls to break up the fight. Sure enough, out of nowhere the teenagers that had come into the city with Edward upon his return were fighting them off. Wrath and Gluttony watched from afar and Pride lurked in the shadows as the teens fought the monsters.

"Well it appears this isn't just an accidental encounter after all," Wrath noted, "It seems they wanted us to show up."

"Well then you two should give them what they wanted," Pride said, a smirk in his voice, "You go ahead and make an example of their xingese allies. I'll send more demons the exorcists' way to keep them busy." Bradley nodded before hopping from the roof.

….

"Dammit!" Bon hissed as he saw another wave of the demons make it onto the roof, "With these things ever stop?"

"Well, I suppose they'll run out of demons eventually," Shima said stabbing one that got too close with his staff, "But for now...no."

"Great…" Bon said before peering over the side of the building to see how Edward and Alphonse were doing. It had been awfully quiet down there for the past few minutes. His eyes widened and he nearly stumbled as he saw that the alley was empty. There wasn't even a body on the ground. "Shima, we've got a problem!" He announced as he dodged a ghoul lunging for him before spraying it with holy water.

"You bet we have a problem!" His friend cried as he backed away from the ghouls slowly encircling him, "You stopped chanting and now these guys are starting to swarm!"

Bon growled before throwing a holy water grenade at the pack of ghouls. Shima sighed in relief as they sizzled and died. "I mean that Ed, Al, and the two guys they were fighting disappeared! They've moved on!"

"What? Where did they go?" Shima asked.

"I don't know but we better call Konekomaru and the oth-OW!" Bon cried as he clutched his head. He looked up to see a group of smokey looking black birds.

"Nevermore!" one croaked as it swooped for him again. He ducked out of the way as it attempted to take his flesh with it's long talons.

"Oh no…" Bon grumbled, "Ravens…" He then tossed Shima one of the walkie talkies as he grabbed his prayer beads again. "You call them and ask them if they can either see Ed and Al or if they can get us over there with their familiars," he said as he lifted his hands and began quoting scripture. This seemed to enrage the demon birds and they began swooping at him in a frenzy. Thankfully, Shima had moved in front of him to ward them off with his staff.

"I really hope that transport is an option…" he muttered as he pressed the button, "I don't know how much longer we can stand against these things." "Come in! Come in!"

"Hello? Shima?" Shiemi asked from the other end of the line, "What's going on? Are you ok?"

"Not really, but that's only part of the reason why we called," he said, "Ed and Scar moved on and we don't know where they are."

"What?!" Shiemi cried. Her two classmates turned to look at her in surprise at her exclamation.

"Shiemi?" What's wrong?" Konekomaru asked.

"Now's not the time to stop and ask questions, cat boy!" Izumo hissed, "Keep chanting!" The boy quickly complied as he remember their situation. "Now what does he want?" She asked, turning back to her.

"They're saying they lost track of them!"she said before bringing the walkie talkie to her ear again, "They're asking us to either look out for them or borrow one of your white foxes to transport them to look for them."

"Well tell him we're sorry but we're not really capable of doing either right now!"she responded before nodding towards the honey locust tree barricade nee had created to keep four goblins and three imps from attacking them. The two foxes were busy attacking the imps while konekomaru was reciting verses to kill them.

Sheimi winced before getting back on the radio. "Sorry, but we really can't do either right now. I know they haven't shown up yet though," she apologized.

She heard both Shima curse and then Bon as he relayed the information. "Alright, Bon says to keep a look out for them though if you can…" Shima said. His voice then became high as he continued. "Uh oh...Oh no. No, no, no!" he started, voice distant as if he had the radio just absently still on in his hand, "God dammit! Not these guys!"

Shiemi's eyes widened as he heart clenched. What was going on? What were they facing? Was it something worse than a naberius?...Had a demon king shown up? She could hear a loud thumping sound in the background. "Shima?! Shima, what's wrong?!"she cried, before hearing a loud splash on the other end.

"Ack! GAAAAAAAAH!"he cried, "DAMN M.O.L.B! WHY IS IT ALL THESE THINGS CAN DO IS EXPLODE?! AND WHY DOES THIS ONE SMELL SO BAD?! WHAT? WAS IT MADE FROM SEWER WATER? GOD DAMN IT, THIS SHIT IS EVERYWHERE! I CAN FEEL IT SEEPING INTO MY SHOES! FU-oof!" She heard a thump as he fell over, followed by a string of curses.

Shiemi cringed, feeling bad for her friend. "Sorry Shima…" she said before turning off the radio. No sooner had she done that then did she hear a hissing sound come from behind her. She quickly turned around and squeaked as she saw that two naberius had crawled up the side of the building. "N-nee! We need another barrier!"she cried. The little demon immediately jumped to her defense as the frankenstein creatures attacked, creating another thorny barricade. The demons screamed as they were impaired by the six inch long thorns, but that didn't stop them from trying to break through.

Izumo and Konekomaru turned at the noise. "Christ…" she hissed, "I'm starting to think we're the real targets here…"

….

Shura stood outside the hotel, scratching her head in confusion. Where were those kids? She told them to meet up here at two after she was done with Rin's sword fighting practice so she could get them to their temporary housing for the mission. She huffed as she leaned against the side of the car. She was supposed to be the one who was allowed to be late, not them. Where could they be? She hoped they hadn't gotten distracted by something stupid. This city was huge! There was no way she could track them down without so much as a clue to where they were.

"We really should be careful," a voice from the sidewalk said, "I hear Scar is at it again." Her ears perked up and she stood up straight at that. Shura looked around the corner of the truck with a raise eyebrow at the two people walking along the sidewalk. Did they just say Scar?

"Don't worry, he's not going after civilians. You should be more worried about collateral damage," the other person said, "I heard he picked a fight with the Fullmetal Alchemist and that they're duking it out down town."

Uh oh. This was bad. Shura then ran after the two guys. "Hey!" she called, "Did you say Scar was fighting someone?" She asked.

The two men turned to her. "You hadn't heard?" One questioned, "Scar just attacked the Fullmetal Alchemist in broad daylight. They're tearing up the city with their fight."

Shura bit her lip. "Where's that happening?" She demanded.

The men exchanged odd looks. "Why do you want to know?" The shorter of the two asked, "Don't tell me you're one of those crazies that's gonna try to watch it, are you?"

Shura growled. "It doesn't matter! Stop wasting my time and tell me already!" She snapped. The men flinched at her harshness.

"D-Down by Venicia street by the old market!" One of them squeaked. Shura nodded before running to go hop in the truck and speeding off. Those damn kids...if they were really trying to take on a serial killer, then she was going to have to kick their asses along with the killer himself.

The two men watched as the truck left a dust cloud behind it. "Jeez...crazy witch…" one of them said.

"Yeah, teens these days. They'll do anything to get an adrenaline high...who wants to see some kid take on a mass murderer…" the other muttered.

….

Rin was walking down the surprisingly empty street towards the farmers market when he heard a rumbling noise. This caused him to raise an eyebrow what the heck was going on? Did someone set off fireworks in the street? Or try to blow up a car? Whatever it was couldn't be good. "Sorry Winry," he thought. He ran towards it as quickly as he could. As he did so, he pulled on one of his gloves as he did so. He had a sinking feeling everyone's favorite serial killer had something to do with this. If so, he wasn't about to show up unprepared.

He followed the sounds of explosions for half a block before turning the corner into an alleyway. He stopped just in time to see Ed tumble to the ground while Scar loomed above him. In the background Alphonse was holding off Dolcetto in the background. Rage filled him as the man extended his hand outward towards his friend as he scrambled back up. "BACK OFF!" He shouted as he snapped his fingers creating an explosion and sending Scar flying into an already partially destroyed wall.

Everyone turned towards him in shock. "It's him!" Dolcetto gasped before Alphonse knocked him aside in his shock.

"Rin?!" Edward cried. What the heck was he doing here?! Not that he was ungreatful that he was saved, but how did he get here? He thought he was staying home.

"And don't even think of getting back up!" Rin shouted at the new slightly Scar shaped hole in the wall. He then turned to Edward. "Hey are you alright? What the heck happened?" he asked. It was strange how Scar had managed to track them down in the middle of the day.

"We were trying to use Scar to trap a homunculus but things aren't exactly going as planned," Edward admitted as he pulled himself up.

"What the heck?!" Rin said blinking in surprise as Scar started to get up, "You were planning on taking on this guy all on your own?! That's crazy! Why didn't you get me to help?!"

"Well to be fair we thought the homunculi might want you dead after what you did to one of their kind, so they might not take the bait," Ed explained, "And we would have had things under control if Scar's little buddy hadn't shown up." He jabbed a thumb back at Alphonse for emphasis, however, when the two turned to look, the saw the dog chimera was no longer there.

They both blinked in surprise. "The hell…" Ed muttered, "Alphonse, where did he go?" The suit shrugged apologetically. "Damnit…"

"Shaitan…" Scar growled as he pulled himself up from the rubble, "I had a feeling you would show up eventually. Especially with your follower in danger."

"Wait, follower?" Ed responded in confusion, "Rin what is he talking about?"

Scar raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me you aren't aware?" he responded in surprise, "Your alley is a demon! Not only that, but the worst demon of all, Shaitan himself!"

Edward blinked in surprise. "Wait, he knows you're a demon? How?" He questioned Rin.

"It was back in East City. He saw my blue flames and jumped to conclusions…" he explained, "I don't know how he knows what a demon is but-"

"How do I know who you are?!" Scar questioned, "Do you not remember what you did to my people?! You burned down entire villages! You killed hundreds with your fire!And I'm not about to let you kill anyone else, demon!" As he said this, he dipped his hand in holy oil.

Rin smirked. "Heh, I don't care what you think of me, but if you're going to try and kill me, good luck pal!" he said confidently as he extended his hand outward, "You may have had the upperhand in East City, but you're gonna regret challenging me now. It's dry as a bone out here, so there isn't going to be anything to dampen my flame alchemy." Rin's confident smile faded as Scar smirked slightly.

"Trust me," he said, "There's more than one way to douse your flame."

SHI-SHINK!

Before he could respond, Rin suddenly felt a searing pain in his side and his glove fall from his hand in pieces as a gust blew past him. He cried out as he clutched the gash in his side. "RIN!" Al and Ed cried together.

Rin stumbled as he clutched the injury. "What the crap was that?!"he growled as he looked up. His eyes widened as he saw Dolcetto standing there, smirking. "You!"he cried.

"Not so tough without your glove now are you?" he sneered, "Now I'm gonna make you pay for what you've done."

Rin growled as he stood up and grabbed the hilt of his sword. He didn't know what the man was talking about but that didn't matter at the moment. He knew he was in for the fight of his life. "You're the one who's gonna pay!"he snapped as he unsheathed Kurikara.

Scar's eyes widened as he saw the boy's tail unfurl, ears and teeth elongate, and blue flames engulf him. They narrowed again as he glared at the demon. So this was the beast's true form. Dolcetto was unphased and charged at the boy who quickly deflected him. Scar growled as he stood up, clenching his fist. Looks like they were going to be in for the fight of their lives.


	47. bellow for revenge

"Come in! This is sector eleven!" Mustang said in a low voice, "We have confirmation of Scar in the factory district and are now requesting back up! We thought we had him cornered but he's since taken down three officers." He smirked as he turned off the microphone momentarily. "I could do this all day," he said, "or at least for another hour."

Riza rolled her eyes and sighed. "I hope it doesn't last that long. We probably only have about twenty minutes before they figure out we're the ones behind us," she reminded.

"Don't worry, Fuery's equipment can't be tracked," he said. His smile faded however, as some concerning news came over the air waves.

"Attention! This is sector eight, We have spotted Scar. He and an accomplice are currently engaged with the Fullmetal Alchemist, his brother, AND the Spitfire Alchemist…" The voice said. Roy's eyes widened in surprise and he and Riza exchanged looks.

"Rin?"he exclaimed, "What on earth is he doing there?"

"He did get off of training with Shura a good twenty minutes ago, didn't he?" Riza offered.

"Yes, but he still shouldn't be there with those possibly vengeful homunculi showing up," Roy said, "And that mysterious accomplice Scar has…Who is that guy? Did they describe him at all?"

"I'm afraid not," Riza said, trying to listen to the frequency.

Roy bit his lip. This wasn't good. He had no idea who this new person was, and he hated not knowing. "I want to know what's going on over there…for all we know Scar could have made some sort of contract with a demon to help him get revenge," Roy said, taking off his headphones, "I'm going to go see what's going on over there…"

"No," Riza said, standing up, "I'll do it. Remember, you're already in hot water. We need to keep your involvement in this a secret."

Roy nodded before grabbing his coat and heading out alongside her. "Alright. Meet with me up at the hideout outside town," he said handing her an address, "Make sure you aren't followed."

…

Shura was speeding down the street to the scene of the fight. She hoped she wasn't too late. Hopefully Ed was alright. Although annoying at times they may be, if this Scar guy hurt any of her students or Ed, she was going to wring his neck.

She swerved around the corner before slamming on the breaks as she saw the line of traffic. She growled and pinched the bridge of her nose before honking the horn of her truck. "COME ON!"she shouted, "SOME OF US HAVE PLACES TO BE YOU KNOW!"

"OI, LADY! "the man in front of her shouted back, "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T THINK ANY OF US HAVE PLACES TO GO?! CALM YOUR TITS, YA CRAZY BITCH! THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND YOU!"

Something snapped in Shura as she sent the man a death glare. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"she shouted, "WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE! COME ON. I DARE YA. I'LL TEAR YOU-" She stopped however as she heard a thumping noise a couple cars down. She blinked in surprise before all of a sudden something landed on her hood. "What the hell?" she said to herself as she saw the old man crouching on the hood of her vehicle, preparing to jump again. "Hey!" she shouted at him, catching his attention, "What the heck do you think you are doing?" Who was this old man? And how was he able to jump from car to car like that?

Fu turned to the civilian in the car who had addressed him, only to be surprised by her unusual appearance. Her long hair was dyed red and yellow to give it the appearance of fire. He had never seen someone with hair like that before, but he remembered the young lord had described someone like that once before. His eyes widened as realization dawned on him. "Wait a minute…" he said, "Are you Miss Shura Kirigakure?"

She blinked in surprise before narrowing her eyes at him. How the hell did he know who she was? She had never seen him before. She slowly reached a hand to the button of her coat right above her stomach. "So what if I am?" she questioned, "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Fu. I am a servant to the young lord Ling Yao," he explained, "He mentioned a woman named Shura that he described to be exactly like you."

Shura relaxed slight. "Well you are correct in your assumptions," she said, "Now, care to explain why you're car hopping?"

Fu frowned. "Unfortunately, I cannot find the young lord," he explained, "He and my granddaughter disappeared earlier today saying that they were helping the Elric brothers with something. However, now I cannot sense their chi. It's been smothered under the overwhelming dark presence that has congregated in a particular area of town."

Shura nodded. "And you think they might be there, possibly fighting whatever it is?" she said more than asked. Fu gave a grunt of confirmation. Shura stroked her chin. An evil presence probably meant demons of some kind. And if both ling and the elrics were involved, then her students could have tagged along too. Maybe they were up to something more than trying to chase a serial killer. All of a sudden they heard a honk.

She turned to glare out the window at the person behind her. "Hey Lady!"the cabbie yelled, "The line's moving! Get your foot of the break!"

She glanced back to see the line of traffic had cleared up before frowning. However, she didn't antagonize the man. Instead she spoke to Fu. "Alright, Old man," she said, "Why don't you hop in and direct me to where you need to go." He gave her a questioning look at that. "I'm looking for my students and Edward," she explained, "If you say a dark presence is what's keeping you from sensing Ling's chi, then my students are probably involved." The man nodded before getting into the passenger seat. With that, she turned off on the next corner and the pair were on their way.

…

Yukio walked into his office just in time to hear his phone ring. He had just finished fixing up a cadet that had gotten himself into a fight with another when he received it. "Hello?"he said, "This is Major Yukio Mustang Speaking."

"Yukio!" Winry said, "Good, you answered. Do you know where your brother is?"

Yukio blinked in surprise at the request. "No...Why?"he asked, "He hasn't done something stupid has he?" He really hoped his brother hadn't gotten into trouble again.

"Probably, but I don't know!"she said, "I sent him to the farmer's market ages ago to pick up something for me, but he never came back! I tried calling both Edward and Roy, but neither of them were available to answer. I was hoping you had some insight as to where he is."

Yukio frowned, worry written on his face. "Dad wasn't available to answer?" he questioned. When she confirmed this his frown deepened. This was bad. If neither Edward nor his father were available, this could mean they got caught up in the middle of something. And from the looks of it, Rin might be caught up in it too. Still, he didn't want to worry Winry…"It's probably nothing!" He tried to assure, "Rin gets distracted a lot. He probably is up to something stupid, but I doubt it's life threatening. He probably just got into an argument with someone. Don't worry."

"But-" Winry started.

"Trust me, Rin is probably fine," he said, "I know my brother. He can get into trouble from time to time, but he doesn't actively go looking for it. Just relax."

He could tell that Winry didn't really believe him on the other end. "Fine," she grumbled tersely, "If you won't tell me anything, I'll just grab my things and head over to see the Hughes then." With that she slammed the phone on the receiver.

Yukio Winced before sighing and laying back in his chair. He knew that was probably not going to work, but he had to atleast try to make sure she wasn't upset! Especially when there was nothing she could do! Heck, there was nothing that he could do either, which just made him feel awful. He had no idea where Rin was, couldn't contact his father or Ed, and Had no idea what he had been doing to lead up into this situation. All he could do was pray that Rin hadn't gotten himself into too much danger.

….

Rin narrowly dodged the holy oil soaked hand before blocking the blade of the Dog Chimera with his own. Man, he wasn't getting a single break! Neither Scar nor Dolcetto were about to give up. These two seemed so damn bent on killing him, they were practically ignore Ed and Al now all together. What was their deal?!...Aside from thinking that he was the devil...Ok maybe that question was kinda pointless, but still! Ed and Al were still a threat, weren't they? But apparently, Scar and Dolcetto were more interested now in trying to gang up on him instead of fighting Fullmetal. Well, at least it was still three on two.

Scar reached out his oil covered hand and grabbed Rin with it. He hissed in pain as it felt like the oil was scalding him. This had caught Rin off guard. Where had he gotten holy oil?! He tried to pull himself free, but was unable. As alchemic light sparked from his hand, suddenly, a pillar of stone slammed into scar, sending him flying. Another pillar shot up from the ground, hitting dolcetto and sending him rocketing through the air.

Rin turned to see that Ed and Al were the ones that had created the pillars. "Thanks," he said with a smile.

Edward nodded but didn't return the smile. "Don't thank us yet!" He said as he clapped his hands. Rin turned to see Scar was already up and running towards him. At the same time, Dolcetto got back up, ready to charge at Rin again, sword flashing in the sun light. "Which do you want?" Ed asked, "Scar or dog boy?"

"I'll take the dog," Rin said before joking, "then I might get some sword fighting practice out of this."

Ed rolled his eyes with a slight grin before he and Al went for Scar. Meanwhile, Dolcetto's katana clashed with Kurikara's blade. The two pushed against each other before separating. Dolcetto swung his blade towards Rin's shoulder but he parried it away. He swiftly tried again with the other shoulder, but once again, Rin managed to block it. This carried on for a little while as they moved down the alleyways, breaking up only with the occasional slashes and thrusts but other wise, he had Rin on the ropes, barely letting Rin get an attack in edge wise. "Man he's fast…" he thought, "I gotta figure out how to get him to slow down…"

Rin jumped back away from the swordfighter and spoke up. "Seriously, what's your problem?" Rin demanded, "Scar I get why he hates me, but why you? Why did you team up with him of all people and decide to kill me?"

This seemed to are the dog man even angrier. "Are you kidding me?!" He roared, "It's only been a month or so! Have you really forgotten what you did to me?!"

Rin blinked. "I remember knocking you out in a sewer…" he said, "But that was just payback for you chloroforming me."

Dolcetto eye twitched and he ground his teeth in rage. That bastard! He really had forgotten! "NO YOU ASSHOLE!" he shouted, "You and that Fullmetal guy brought in the army and slaughtered my friends in cold blood!"

Rin blinked in surprise. He really thought he had done all that? His brow furrowed in offence. He had been furious when Martel died! He was the only one who stood up to their killer about their deaths. How dare he accuse him of killing them! "Hey! I had nothing to do with their deaths!" He responded, "I'm sorry for what happened to them. I'm not a murderer! I don't kill innocent people!"

Dolcetto narrowed his eyes at him disbelievingly. "If you didn't then who did?"he snapped.

"It was-" Rin started before realizing how ridiculous what he was about to say was, "...Fuhrer Bradley…" Dolcetto snarled, completely enraged as he charged forward and swung at Rin. "I'm serious, ok!" Rin said, "It really was the Fuhrer!" This only served to make the dog chimera angrier.

"YEAH RIGHT! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, AN IDIOT?"he roared, "WHY THE HELL WOULD THE FUHRER BE IN A BACKWATER TOWN LIKE DUBLITH FOR NO REASON?!"

"How should I know?!" Rin cried, flustered, "I don't understand half of what that man does! He apparently gave my friend a melon and then hopped out the window at one point in time!"

Dolcetto blinked at him, giving him an odd look. "Ok, now I know that you're completely full of crap," he said, "And the fact that you think you can just make up said crap to get off the hook just makes me want to gut you more!" He then swung his blade at him again.

"Shit…" he hissed as he narrowly dodged it before trying to counter with his own attack. Well it looks like he just made this worse. Damn it. The two continued to fight down the back alley as they slowly got closer to the train yard.

….

The swarm of demons that had sprung up ended up being too much to handle. At first they tried using Izumo's spirits to move towards Bon and Shima, hoping that they'd be better apt to take them all on in a group. They even confirmed that the two had already taken care of the ravens that were attacking them thanks to Bon finding their fatal verse. Unfortunately, that didn't work out well, as the swarm that followed them seemed to double as they met up. Now they were surrounded. To the left of them was a horde of Ghouls of various forms. To their right were several strange, long necked boney conglomerates covered in fabric with gourds for heads that they hadn't the foggiest as to what they were even called, let alone how to fight them. For now they were protected by a wooden cage created by Nee. However, the demons were slowly chipping away at it, occasionally one or two breaking through.

"There's too many!" Bon growled, dodging one before going back to praying.

Shima said, "Where are these things all coming from? And why are they attacking us?!"

Izumo glared at him. "Um hello?! We're Exorcists! We're trying to kill them! Of course they're gonna go after us!" She snapped. She then yelped as one of the ghouls slammed against the wooden cage.

"That's not what I mean…" Shima snapped.

Konekomaru's eyes widened in realization. "...Wait...think about it!"he said, turning towards Izumo, "These demons...they should be sent after Scar! If that's who they're really after, then why are there so many attacking us?"

Izumo's eyes widened as it dawned on her. "It-It's a trap, isn't it?" Shiemi whispered, fear in her eyes, "Th-they were trying to corner and get rid of us…" A hand came to her mouth. "They aren't going to stop coming...Not until we're dead…" she said, voice cracking in horror.

Izumo was frozen as this dawned on her. Somehow they already knew about them. Maybe they had planned this from the beginning, maybe they didn't, but one fact still remained: these homunculi knew they were a threat and wanted them alone so they could kill them off. They hadn't moved this way strategically, they had been corralled. She was snapped out of it as one of her white foxes hit the wall of the cage, breaking it. They all gasped and Shiemi let out a cry of terror as one of those gourd demons winded and twisted its way inside, the jack o lantern like smile on its face absolutely sinister now.

They backed up as much as they could, preparing whatever weapons they had to fight for their lives. But they all knew this was the end. There was no way around it. They weren't going to finish their mission and they certainly weren't going to make it back to True cross. They were going to die here, cornered and torn apart by theses demons like an injured rabbit to a pack of hungry dogs. Tears pricked Izumo's eyes as the gourd creature raised one of its arms into the air, ready to slice them apart like tissue paper. The teens all closed their eyes, not wanting to stare death in the face any longer.

SHLOCK!

They all opened their eyes in surprise as they heard the splatter of the demon's blood on the ground. There, standing before them and wielding a gleaming blade was Shura Kirigakure along with the old man they had met the other day holding throwing knives. The looks of pure elation and relief on the teens faces practically shined. "Miss Shura!" Shiemi cried in joy.

A look of cold determination shown in her eyes as she stood before them. "Should have figured you would have gotten yourselves into trouble," she said before suddenly turning and slash a ghoul that tried to jump her in half, "I leave you alone for ten minutes and you get surrounded by a horde of high level demons…"

Shima scratched the back of his head. "Well actually it was two hours…" he defended before she sent him a very stern look that sent a shiver up his spine, "O-ok, shutting up now!"

She nodded before turning back to the horde. They hissed and snarled at her as they approached. "I know you guys probably didn't know who you were dealing with," she addressed them, "But let me just tell you, you messed with the wrong teacher." Another one of the board beasts tried to attack her. She promptly sliced it into ribbons. "Look fellas, if you want to get to these kids, you're gonna have to go through me," she responded, standing tall and glowing at the pack of monsters. Not a single one of them backed down. "Very well then," she said before biting her thumb and running the bloody finger along the length of her blade. "Devour the Seven Princesses, slay the Serpent!"she exclaimed, "Snake Belly form!" Fu's eyes widened in surprise as he saw her sword extend and change shape, the blade now resembling a snake. She then charged at the band of beasts before slashing through a group in one swing.


	48. The fire-eyed maid of smokey war

"RWWAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUHG!"the large shadowy figure cried as Shura slashed through it. She panted slightly before wiping her forehead and standing up. As the last demon fell, Shura replaced her sword inside of her tattoo. The bodies of dozens of demons lay scattered in hundreds of pieces along the roof of the building. The teens looked on in awe. They had never seen their teacher in action before. Even Fu looked impressed. Although he could not see the demons. He could still sense their overpowering evil presence. And with every slash she made, she could feel another presence disappeared.

"Woah…" Shima whispered.

"I guess that just shows why she's a first class exorcist…" Bon muttered.

"You got that right…" Izumo responded.

She then turned to them sending them a similar death glare as the one she had been sending to the demons. They all flinched at it. "You IDIOTS!" she shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you brats! Do you have even a single brain between the five of you? What the heck possessed you to think it was a good idea to take on a whole horde like that?"

"Look we're sorry, ok!" Shima said holding his hands up apologetically, "Edward needed our help doing demon control for this plan he had and because cell towers aren't a thing in this universe, we couldn't contact you!"

"Still, what made you think you could handle something like this?" She said, gesturing to all the crumpled bodies around her, "and if Edward put you up to this, then where is he? And what is this crazy plan of his?"

"Well ma'am, we had no idea there would be this many…" Konekomaru explained, "Ed was trying to trap a homunculus using Scar as bait and we were going to get rid of any demon-"

"HE WHAT?!" Both Fu and Shura shouted.

"IS THAT WHAT HE PUT THE YOUNG LORD UP TO HELP HIM TO DO?!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?!" Shura shouted, "Is he trying to get himself killed?! Where the heck is that little runt so I can beat him over the head!"

The teens took a step back as they felt her seething energy exude from her. "Eheheheh...You see, that's the problem…" Shima admitted, "We sorta...lost track of him…" She slowly turned on him, eye twitching with rage. "W-well, what do you expect!" He defended, "We were stuck on top of a building!" That didn't seem to help.

"Madame," Fu said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "now that this overwhelming presence is gone, I believe I can help track down the boy, but we must hurry. I don't want to find out what will happen if we show up too late."

The bottle redhead took in a deep breath before exhaling. "Ok, you're right," she said before pulling out a summoning paper. "Naga!"she called as she placed her bloody thumb on the page, "Come forth! We need a lift down." A giant serpent exited the circle on the page and slithered down the side of the building. It then wrapped its way around it before resting its head on top, creating a slide down the building. "Come on kids, get your rears in gear," she said pushing them forward. One by one they complied and slid down the snake's back to the ground. Finally it was just Fu and Shura. She stepped on the snake's head and paused when she noticed Fu had not followed after her. "Is something wrong?"she asked with a raised eyebrow as she saw him eyeing the side of the building carefully.

"Forgive me," he said, "For although I can sense the presence of a demon, I cannot see it. I'm afraid I don't know how to make sure my next step won't be my last."

Shura nodded in understanding before looking down at the Naga. "Hey, think you can help our buddy out with that?"she said as she stat down. The snake blinked in compliance before reaching over and grabbing the servant by the back of his clothing.

Fu was completely taken by surprise by this. "What the?!" He started as he legs flailed in the air. Shura chuckled in response as the snake started lowering them to the ground.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine," she explained, "this isn't the first time he's done this with someone." Once they touched the ground, she sent the snake away. "Alright everyone, get in the truck!" She announced, "It's do or die time, now move it!"

"At least she isn't mad at us any more…" Shima muttered as the ran to the back of the canvas truck.

"Oh, I'm still mad," She said, catching them all off guard, "And once this is all over, you five are gonna be in some serious trouble, you got that?" The five teens gulped in fear before piling in the back of the truck.

…

The three alchemists had fought their way into the train yard followed by their attackers. Unfortunately, the slippery gravel was making it harder to transmute the ground around Edward and Alphonse. Thankfully, there was plenty of metal around them. And with the wide open space, it was easier to move around.

It was also easier to see when something new showed up. Edward spotted out of the corner of his eye a large fat man leaping at Scar and was able to jump out of the way. Scar also saw him as he managed to dodge the attack. The ishvalan's eyes widened as he recognized the portly being. It was the same man that had attacked him in the sewer with that woman. The strange man attempted to grab him, but Scar thrusted his hand in his face. He used his alchemy to crush the man's brain from the inside, however, when he let go a strange red lightning surrounded the man's head and healed his wounds. Scar took a step back and Ed and Al's eyes widened at this. "He's a homunculus!" Ed cried.

Rin pushed Dolcetto back and turned in surprise as he heard this. "Really? One finally showed up?" He asked. His momentary destruction, allowed Dolcetto enough time to try and rush him. He was cut off, however, by a swift kick to the head by one flame haired teacher. He tumbled across the ground and looked up to see what had attacked him. He was dumbstruck as he saw the woman holding a sword.

"Hey," she said, "Mind if I cut in?"

"What the hell?"he shouted, "Who the hell are you?"

"Shura?" Rin cried, "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" She said, raising an eyebrow at him, "I'm saving your ass!"

"You know this lady?" Dolcetto questioned gesturing to her.

"Yup," Shura responded, "It's my job to keep him out of trouble, although he keeps managing to find it when I turn my back." She gave him a pointed look at that to which rin shrugged nervously. N at.

Dolcetto frowned. "Well if the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then the friend of my enemy is my enemy too," he said, moving into a fighting position before turning to

Just then, the exwires and Fu ran into the area. "Oh man this is crazy!" Shima said as he watched as Ling suddenly appeared to fight the homunculi. Fu had ran past them to assist his master.

The others nodded as they looked on as well. "Yeah, but where is Miss Shura?" Bon asked.

"Over there," Izumo said, "Wait, is that Rin?!" All the teens looked on in surprise as they saw the half demon watching their teacher take on the strange sword fighter.

"Rin? What on earth are you doing here?!" Bon cried, catching the boy's attention. He turned to them in surprise, but so did Dolcetto momentarily. Long enough for him to make eye contact with a young blonde girl. The same girl, he realized, as the one who helped him earlier that day. They both shared a surprised look. What the heck? What was she doing here? Was she also friends with Shaitan? He wasn't able to find out as he was quickly drawn back into the sword fight after narrowly dodging Shura's blade as she sliced through the air.

Shiemi watched this in shock. As she did, Konekomaru gave her a concerned look. "Sheimi, are you alright?" he asked.

"Th-that man…"she said, "I helped him earlier today...I-I didn't know he was after Rin. I mean...I only got him some food but..." If he had known who she was, he could have killed her in a second.

Konekomaru gave her a comforting look and patted her shoulder. "It's alright, you didn't know," he assured, "You were being kind. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But we can be ashamed of not doing anything!" Bon said, "we should be helping them somehow. We're supposed to be protecting them."

"Oh, and what do you suggest we do?" Izumo said, "Chant scripture at a serial killer? Try to run up and kick him in the shins? None of us are trained in martial arts like Ed?"

"Relax Bon, I think they've got this covered for now," Shima said. Suddenly they heard an explosion. They turned just in time to see pieces of homunculus explode as bits of Gluttony went everywhere. They flinched as they landed. "Aw, sick…" shima said in disgust before the pieces began to disappear.

"Well atleast it's self cleaning…" Bon muttered.

Dolcetto was startled by the sudden explosion and was kicked to the ground by Shura. "Ready to quit?"she said, resting her sword on her shoulder. Dolcetto glared at her. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, "Where the heck did you learn how to sword fight like that?" He hadn't seen someone fight in an eastern style like that in years. He thought he was only one of a handful that learned how to fight that way.

"What, did you have crud in your ears when the kid introduced me?" She said with a smirk, "The name is Shura Kirigakure. First class exorcist and member of the knights of the true cross. On top of that, I'm the single greatest expert on demon swords in the world."

Dolcetto's jaw dropped at that. His mind was completely boggled. This woman...was an exorcist?! And she was working for Shaitan?! Did she even know what she was doing? No wait...if she was even worth half her salts, then of course she knew what she was doing. But then why? Why would she do such a thing? Why would she help the lord of all evil? He didn't have time to question this, as all of a sudden he heard a car screech and gunshots fire.

He turned in surprise to see a blonde woman driving a truck pointing a gun at Scar, who was now clutching his leg. Dolcetto's eyes widened in horror. Not again, he was not about to lose another friend. "SCAR!" He cried, getting up, only to be put into a full nelson by Shura.

"Oh no you don't!" she grunted.

"Let go of me!" He shouted as he struggled against her grip, "Let go of me, you witch! I won't let them hurt my friend!" She finally let go as something suddenly bit her arm. She hissed in pain, pulling away from him and allowing Dolcetto to grab his sword and run.

"The hell-" she started as she saw a very tiny panda hanging from her. "Get off me you little flea bag!"she said as she pulled Xiao Mei off of her. She looked up as she saw Alphonse careening towards her. "Oh sh-" she started as the heavy suit of armor made contact with her and sent her flying into a train.

"Miss Shura!" The teens cried, fearful for their teacher's safety.

Shura grunted as she pulled herself out from under Al. "A little help here!" She grunted as she did so.

"Sorry!" Al said moving for her, "The little girl just came out of nowhere and attacked me. Are you alright?"

"Little girl?" Shura questioned before looking up to see a small girl in braided buns standing next to Scar and Dolcetto. She was wearing a pink outfit that reminded Shura of traditional Chinese clothing. As the MPs rushed in, she pulled out her throwing knives and threw them at two different train compartments containing coal. She then drew a circle on the ground and pressed a palm to it, causing the coal cars to burst and black soot to fly everywhere.

"What the hell!" Rin coughed, "was that Alkahestry?"As the dust cleared they looked around the see that the girl, Scar, and Dolcetto were gone. "Where did they go?" Rin questioned. Everyone paused in momentary shock before remembering the MPs were there.

Riza was the first to move into action. "Ling Yao," she said, turning to the young prince, "I'm a friend of Edward's and Rin's. We need to get this thing out of here." She gestured to the tied up Homunculus. He nodded before grabbing it and setting it on the truck. He was about to get on when Fu placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Young lord, wait a moment," he said, worry clear in his voice, "Where is my granddaughter? Why don't I see her anywhere? Was she not with you?"

Ling looked away in slight shame and equal worry. "She's in serious danger," he explained before turning to Hawkeye, "please we need to make a stop to pick her up her life depends on it!"

Hawkeye could see the worry and dedication to his friend on his face and nodded. "Alright, but we have to be quick," she said, "get in, now!"

Ling complied and Fu followed after. "Young lord, what do you mean by serious danger?" He demanded worry clear in his voice, "What has happened to her?"

"I'll explain on the way," Ling responded as they sped away.

"Wait! Lu-" Rin started as he watched them drive away, only to be smacked by Shura, "Hey what was that for?!"

"Can't you see she's in disguise?" Shura hissed at him, "If you say her name you'll blow her cover!"

"Sorry…" Rin grumbled.

"Still, we need to head after her," Ed said walking up to them, "She has the homunculi. We need to catch up to her and-" He stopped as Shura suddenly wrapped an arm around his neck and forced him downwards, kneeing him in his flesh shoulder. "GAAAAAAAH!" Ed shoulder, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? LET GO OF ME!"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! Do you have a death wish, ya little imp?!" She snapped as she continued to hold him under her arm, "Do you enjoy giving me a heart attack?! You could have at least let me know what was going on here! But noooo! I have to find out from some random guys on the street that you went off to go fight a serial killer that hates your guts and nearly kill my students in the process!"

Edward growled. "DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" he cried, forcing himself out of her grip and trying to punch her in the face. She narrowly dodged him before kneeing him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Alphonse and Rin watched from the sidelines with the other teens, completely dumbstruck. For some reason the two felt Shura reminded them of someone, but who they couldn't quite place. Edward got up, glaring at her with fire in his eyes. Shura returned his gaze with a similar one. The two looked they were ready to throw down at any second.

Thankfully, the exwires were there to interrupt it. "Stop you two!" Konekomaru said, moving between them. Rin and Shima were both slightly put out by this as they had both kinda wanted to see what a fight between the two would be like.

"Yeah, remember we have to catch up with that truck?" Bon reminded.

Both relaxed slightly at this, but Shura sighed in annoyance. "That's gonna be really hard to do now that they've sped away at what? 50? 60 miles per hour? Fast enough to have broken any rational speed limit laws in a highly populated city," she said, "We won't be able to catch up to them with normal means...unless…" she stroked her chin for a moment before turning to Izumo. "Can you summon one of your foxes to sniff them out?"she asked the girl.

Izumo blinked in surprise. "I can try…" she said.

"Well get on that," she ordered before turning to the rest of her class, the Elric brothers, and Rin. "Everyone else, follow me," she said, "let's get loaded into the car to save some time." The nodded and followed after her as they ran down the street to an alley where she had parked.

…

"We were being attacked by another homunculus with a sword. He had taken us by surprise at first and then started chasing us through the sewer system," Ling explained, "He wouldn't let up. Then finally Lan Fan goat an idea." He swallowed. "She cut off her own arm…" he explained feeling guilty over the whole situation, "And had me tie it to a dog to lead the monster away from us." He didn't look at Fu, but he could feel the horror and rage inside him coming off in waves.

"WHAT?"he cried. It was all he could say. There was a swirl of emotions inside him. Rage, fear, sorrow, shock… He didn't know what to say or do. He clutched a hand to his heart as his breathing increased in pace. His granddaughter was possibly dying right now and there was nothing he could do. His worry, panic, and anxiety finally spilled over and words came to him. "And you just left her there?!" He demanded.

"I had no choice!" Ling snapped, emotion clear in his voice, "She insisted I go on without her. That if I wanted to be able to catch this homunculus and find out its secret to immortality, I had to go on without her…"

Fu could hear the pain in his voice and see it on his face and did not respond. He understood the logic behind it. She would in the end, slow him down and if Bradley had caught up to the trail of blood they would have been done for. He even understood that his granddaughter was doing her duty to protect the prince. However, that didn't stop him from asking his next question. "Why? Why didn't you tell me what you were doing? I could have stopped this from happening!" He questioned.

"We were foolish! I'm sorry!" Ling said, with regret in his voice, "We didn't realize that there would be two of them! It was like they had predicted our actions! I didn't think we would need your assistance…."

Suddenly there was a jolt as the car stopped in a back alley and the two were almost flung forward. "This is that spot, correct?" Riza asked.

"Yes! Thank you!" Ling said before jumping off with Fu and running down the alley to a manhole and lifting it.

Riza nodded before immediately picking up her radio. "Colonel. Colonel come in!"she spoke into the black box.

"I'm here. Is something wrong?" Roy questioned, "Are Rin and Fullmetal alright?"

"Their fine, but one of the Xingese Prince's guards was badly injured in the fight,"she explained, "We're going to need a doctor to help her."

Roy nodded on the other end of the line. "Alright, I'll go pick up Yukio," he said before hanging up.

Meanwhile, in the sewer Lan Fan was sitting down in the dark, clutching Ling's shirt to her still bleeding shoulder. She listened for any sign of movement as she sat alone. She felt tired and weak but kept herself alert enough to be aware of what was around her and fight back if necessary.

All of a sudden, she heard footsteps getting closer. Her eyes widened. Could the homunculus have found her. She winced as she pulled out her throwing knives, ready to fight with whatever energy she had. However, she paused in confusion as she heard two pairs of footsteps heading towards her. Was it the yup good lord then? But if it was, then who was with him.

"LAN FAN!" Ling called. Her eyes widened and she sat up. So it was him. But the question still remained of who was with him. She was too weak to sense their energy. Because of this her eyes widened in surprise as she saw her grandfather turn the corner with Ling.

"Grandfather?"she said, looking up at him, trying to keep her eyes in focus. He stopped and shared a similar look of distress as he saw the state of her. He felt a deep sorrow inside of him as he looked upon her. His hands shook as it was quickly replaced by rage and hatred for the one who did this to her and he ran over to hold her.

"I'm sorry, " he said to her quietly, "I'm sorry I was not their to aid you and the young lord." He held her tightly, still thinking horrible thoughts about the one who had attacked her. How dare that monster do this to his precious granddaughter! If he ever met that...thing...He would rip it limb from limb!

"Do not apologize…" she said, swaying slightly, "We...were foolish. We underestimated the man's power…"

Fu frowned before turning to Ling. "A man? I thought it was a homunculus that attacked her," he questioned.

"The homunculus in question also happens to be the leader of this nation," Ling growled, "Fuhrer King Bradley."

Fu looked down at the ground in thought. "Well it looks like we might be able to aid in disposing him if that ends up part of the Elric's plan," he muttered darkly before lifting up his grand daughter. "We must hurry," he said, "she could pass out from bloodloss at any moment. Ling nodded as he went to support her legs as they made their way out of the sewer.

…

"And you're free to go, corporal," Yukio said with a smile as he finished signing his release form. The man had come in needing stitches, but thanks to his alkahestry, that wasn't necessary.

The brown haired man smiled as he rubbed the spot on his arm. "Thanks Sir," he said, "You're really a miracle worker, you know that?"

Yukio smiled. "I try my best," he said, "Just make sure to pay attention when walking down the stairs next time."

The man's stood up and took the form before saluting him. "Will do, sir!" he said before stepping out the door. Yukio waved at him before moving to close it. He went to sit back down and relax for a moment, when all of a sudden there was a knock at the door. Yukio raised an eyebrow. Another patient already? He stood up with a curious look and walked over to him. To his surprise, when he opened it, his father was standing there before him.

"Dad?"he questioned, "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine, but one of your brother's friends is in trouble and needs your help," he said, "You remember the Xingese prince, correct?"

Yukio blinked in surprise before before sighing and running a hand down his face. "What did he do…" he bemoaned. He could only imagine what trouble the prince had gotten himself isn't

"It's not him, it's his guard," Roy explained, catching Yukio's attention, "They were apparently severely injured in a fight today. If they do not receive medical attention quickly, I don't think they're going to survive. I need you to come with me and help them."

Yukio nodded, a determined look on his face. He may not be on the best of terms with Ling, but not in a million years would he think of denying help to someone in need. "Alright," he said as he grabbed his coat, "Help me gather some supplies and let me talk to the desk downstairs and I'll be ready to head out." Roy nodded and started gathering together a first aid kit before heading out with his son.


	49. The Smell of Blood

"Xiao Mei! Xiao Mei!" Mei cried as she frantically searched the alleyway, "Where are you? Please come out!" Where could that panda be? She was with her at the fight...Had she left her behind.

"What are you doing shouting like that?!" Yoki snapped, "We've already got the police on our trail! Do you want to make it easier for the to find us?" "Besides, we need to get going or we'll be caught for sure!" he continued.

"I'm sorry but it's true," Dolcetto said, "We at least need to find a new place to hide and lay low for a while. We don't have time right now to look."

"But we can't leave without her!" She insisted, "She's my closest friend! I need her to find her! Who knows what could happen to her if we leave her in such a place…"

….

The teens were just finishing piling into the back of the van as Izumo and Shura worked with one of her white foxes. They did so causally until Alphonse entered. It was then that out of the corner of his eye Bon noticed that he was carrying something carefully in his hands. He raised an eyebrow at the suit of armor. "Al?" he questioned, "What are you holding?"

At those words, Edward turned to his brother and raised an eyebrow. "Al…." he said in a warning tone, eyeing the small patch of fuzz peeking out from his gauntlets, "What is that?"

"Oh...um…" Al started, before looking away awkwardly, "A-actually, I'm not so sure…I just found it near the train station…"

Edward sighed before stretching out a hand towards the creature his brother was cupping. "Al, this is no time to be picking up str-" he started but stopped and cried out in pain and surprise as the thing bit him. He backed off as the thing stuck its head out from between the two hands firmly grasping it and growled at him. "What the heck is that thing?!" Ed demanded.

The other teenagers shared confused expressions. "Wait...is that a panda bear?" Rin asked, noticing the markings.

"It can't be!" Konekomaru said, "An adult panda bear is much larger than that! Even a small one is larger than three feet long…"

"So what? It's a baby?" Shima said causing the tiny bear to blink in surprise, "What's a baby panda doing here?"

"Oh no!" Shiemi said, bringing a hand to her mouth, "The poor thing must be so scared being all alone!"

Xiao Mei couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did they really think she was a baby? How dare they! She was mature panda and she refused to be treated differently. She growled at Shima as she tried to struggle out of Al's grip.

"Wait, wasn't that the thing that bit Shura during the fight?" Bon questioned, now glaring at the tiny terror, "Are you sure it doesn't have rabies or wants to attack us for other reasons? I'm pretty sure it belonged to that little girl who was with Scar."

"No I think it's just scared," Al said before scratching the bear's head, "There, there. It's alright. I won't hurt you!" This only served to make Xiao Mei angrier as she bit down on the finger. She quickly realized however, that even though she bit straight through the metal, it seemed to have no effect on the being inhabiting the suit. This shook the little panda to her core as she stared up at the behemoth holding her. She felt terrified and humbled as she was trapped inside its metal mits.

"Alphonse...I think you're scaring her more!" Shiemi noted in worry. She then took the small panda from his hands and sat it on the bag next to her seat. "There, are you alright now?" she asked, patting the panda's head. This called Xiao Mei to growl at her. No one was allowed to pet her except Scar and Mei. Sheimi flinched at this before an idea came to mind. "Oh! You must be hungry, aren't you?" she asked, to which the panda gave a confused look, "Don't worry! I have just the thing. Nee?"

Suddenly, the small green demon popped out of her shirt, startling the panda. It did so again as it hopped down onto the seat. Xiao Mei eyed it carefully. "Nee?" It questioned with a smile on. Its face.

"Nee, could you please grow a bit of bamboo for her? She looks hungry." The tiny green humanoid saluted her. Xiao Mei looked on in confusion before being startled by the small leafy stalk of bamboo that sprouted from the creature. The girl then thanked it before breaking off the stalk and handing it to her. "Here you go!" she said, "this should make you feel better."

Xiao Mei analyzed the green stalk. These people were their enemies, so she shouldn't trust them, let alone take food from them...And yet...it looked so delicious! It had been over a month since she had last bad fresh bamboo, and it looked so juicy!...Maybe just one bite couldn't hurt… Xiao Mei tentatively too the stalk and bit into the leaves…

...she was wrong. It wasn't delicious. It was perfect! She didn't think bamboo could taste so good! Granted it was grown magically… Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all. Shiemi smiled as the panda made happy noises while gobbling down the bamboo. "Aww...I'm glad you like it!" she cooed at the creature.

"I guess it is kinda cute like that…" Konekomaru said, smiling at it.

"Doesn't change the fact that we don't know where the thing has been…" Bon muttered as he watched it carefully.

Suddenly the door swung open as Shura stuck her head inside. "Ok guys, buckle up, we're ready to go-" she started before she recognized the tiny panda, "What is that thing doing in here?"

"Well, I found it at the train station and-" Alphonse started.

"I wasn't asking where you found it, I'm asking why it's in here!" She asked, "Do you want them to try and track you guys down for it? Put it back!" "Plus I'm not exactly thrilled about having something that bit me inside of my car…" she added, glaring at it.

"We can't just leave it!" Alphonse insisted, "It could get lost or hit by a car…"

"Yeah," Shiemi said, "Can we please hold onto her for now and then figure out what to do with her later? I don't want to just leave her in the streets..."

"UGGGH!" Shura sighed, running a hand down her face, "I don't have time for this! Fine then! Let's just get out of here." With that she ducked out of the room and ran back to the driver's seat. The teens in the back seat suddenly lurched forward in their seats as the canvas back truck began moving.

…

When they arrived at the small shack, they saw Riza's car parked there. Yukio bit his lip as he jumped out of the car with his supplies and ran up to the door. He hoped to God he wasn't too late. He tried to force it open only for Riza to pull the door open and point a gun in his face. Yukio backed up in surprise and Riza's eyes widened before she relaxed. "Good, it's only you. I was worried a homunculus had shown up," she said, "I'm glad you managed to get here. Now if you have everything you need, head down to the second door on the right." Yukio nodded before rushing in.

As he did so, Roy stepped through the door. "Hello lieutenant," he said, "How is the patient doing."

"Not the best I'm afraid," she explained, "It's lucky that you came when you did. We were able to bandage her up, but when it comes to a wound like her's there is only so much a compress can do."

Roy frowned. "Did she get stabbed?" he questioned, "What exactly happened?"

Riza frowned solemnly and shook her head. "I wish it were that simple. If that were the case I could have attempted a basic stitch to seal it up," she said, "But instead, the thing sliced her arm off."

A look of shock crossed Roy's face before he grimaced. He couldn't help but feel bad for the girl.

Yukio on the other hand was horrified by what he saw. The bloodstained bandages that covered the lump of flesh where her arm should have been was not an easy sight for anyone. He was brought out of his momentary shock as Ling looked up from her at him and sighed in relief. "Yukio!" he cried, relief clear in his voice, "Thank goodness you're here. Please, help her quickly! I don't know how much longer she can last!

Yukio nodded before pulling out some chalk and drawing a circle on the floor around the wound and drove five stakes into the ground. He then unwrapped her bandages, briefly exposing the wound before he slammed a hand on the edge of the circle. Blue lightning sparked form the circle and touched the wound, slowly knitting it closed. As Yukio finished, he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow before beginning to rummage through his supplies. Ling let go of a breath he had been holding as both he and Fu relaxed.

"Thank goodness…" Fu muttered under his breath.

"Don't relax just yet!" Yukio said as he unfolded a portable IV drip stand, "She's still lost way too much blood. We need to get an IV set up for her and quickly." Both men nodded before they moved to help Yukio.

….

"So...where's the homunculus?" Roy asked, looking around the other rooms in the old shack, "They were able to catch it, right?"

"Yes, one of them anyways," she explained, "It's in the garage/shed."

Roy moved to peer inside the door that lead into the small garage. There he could see what appeared to be a quivering mound of flesh struggling against its binding. He frowned as a thought dawned on him and he closed the door. "Wait, one of them?" Roy questioned, "How many were there?"

"Just two as far as I know," she answered, "One managed to escape."

Roy sighed. "Well that certainly spells trouble...let's just hope they didn't know where we're going," he muttered. Riza nodded in agreement. He then turned to her as another thought came to mind. "One more thing," he asked, "Where are Fullmetal, Alphonse, and Rin at?"

"Unfortunately I had to leave them behind due to some MPs showing up," she explained, "I couldn't blow our cover, so I couldn't show that I was involved with them." "Thankfully at the time Scar had fled the scene and Miss Kirigakure had shown up with her students so the boys were left in her capable hands," she assured.

"Good, thought that still begs the question of how they're going to find their way here. All of a sudden a large white fox with and orange neck ornament phased through the door and skidded to halt in front of Riza. The two blinked in surprise before immediately realizing that the beast was clearly a demon and reaching for their respective weapons. Riza pulled her guns and Roy pulled out a vile of holy water. They were about to strike when the fox suddenly spoke up.

"Stop it you two! I'm not here to hurt you!" it growled causing the two military officers, "What is wrong with you people? Is that any way to treat a temple guardian?"

Roy frowned. "Well, excuse us if we're wary of demons. The last dozen we've encountered were far from friendly," he retorted, "But if you aren't here to attack us, then why are you here?"

The fox glared before jerk his head towards the door. "To help them find you," he explained like it was obvious. The two hear the screeching of car wheels. Roy and Riza exchanged glances before heading over to the door and peering outside. They saw the teens stumble out of the canvas truck with Shura walking up behind them.

"Damn…that was insane!" Edward said, "I don't think even mustang can drive that crazy…"

"I believe you man…" Shima said after stopping himself from throwing up. Shura simply pushed passed them towards the front porch.

"Oh good, you idiots really are here," she said as she spotted Roy and Riza, "Sorry about the demon fox breaking in on you. It was the only way to keep up."

Roy sighed. "Very well...I'm glad you're all safe," he said.

"Yeah, not quite," she said, frowning at him, "My kids nearly got killed out their and your kid got stabbed."

His eyes widened as he saw Rin with a bloodstain on the side of his shirt. "What the-" he started as he marched over to him, "Rin, what happened? How did you get slashed in the side?" While he knew it could have been very easy for him to get injured in the fight and he was far from surprised that he did, stabbing was not Scar's style…Not that he'd prefer his son having a chuck of his left side missing. "And why didn't you tell me Rin was injured?" Roy questioned, turning to Riza.

"Sorry Sir, but I'm afraid I hadn't gotten a good look at him to see the wound," she responded, "There were MPs all around us. I couldn't risk blowing our cover by interacting with Edward and Rin." Roy frowned but nodded.

"Dad, it's alright!" Rin said, "I've got demon healing powers, remember, it's probably already closed up."

Roy then frowned at him. "I know that, but I'd still like to know how it happened," Roy said, "Last time I checked Scar doesn't do stabbing or kives. Did you get in a fight with someone else? Did you get it from a homunculus?"

"No," Rin said, "I got it from the fight with Scar, but it was from this buddy of his fighting with him that was a sword fighter."

"Yeah, It was this human chimera that used to work for this rouge homunculus we met back in Dublith," Edward explained, "He's holding a grudge on Rin and a I because he thinks we killed his gang because the military busted in on us."

Roy sighed and stood up, both tired and relieved. "Well at least we know what we're dealing with now," he said, "Rin, go in and see your brother. The wound may be healing well on its own, but you should still have it checked so it doesn't get infected."

Rin blinked. "Wait, Yukio's here?" He questioned before frowning, "Was everyone in on this mission except me?!"

"I wasn't," Shura said, raising her hand, "Still pretty pissed about that, by the way."

"Relax Rin. He wasn't in on anything. We brought your brother here to take care of someone. A friend of that Ling kid was seriously injured and she needed his help," he explained.

"Wait, do you mean Lan Fan?" Rin questioned in surprise, "What happened? Is she ok? Was she attacked by a demon?"

"She wasn't attacked by a demon, but you need to go inside anyways and see Yukio, so why don't you see for yourself," Roy responded, directing the boy inside. Rin ran inside the building as quick as he could and the other teens followed after, curious as to what had happened to the girl.

This left the three adults alone outside. "Oh by the way…" Shura said, smacking her fist against her hand in realization, "Speaking of demons, I got something for you Riza." She said before walking back to the back of the truck and pulling out a case. She brought it over and opened it to reveal two silver guns and several rounds of ammo. "For killing demons," she explained with a shrug, "You didn't seem like the doctor or aria type to me, so I thought some good old fashioned silver bullets would do you better." She them smirked. "But don't go spending them all in one place!"

Riza marveled at the foreign handguns as she took the case. "Are you sure you won't need this?" she asked.

"Nah...I've got my sword...plus I'd say it's a safe bet you're a better shot than me. You'll get more use out of them anyways," she said with her hands behind her head.

Riza closed the case and bowed slightly. "Thank you," she responded, "I deeply appreciate this and I'll make sure they get put to good use in the future."

"Like I said, just don't spend them all in one place," she explained, "Those things were originally in case of emergencies. We only have so much ammo."

Riza nodded at that. Shura returned it before turning on her heels towards Roy. "And now for you…" she said crossing her arms, "So Sparky...When were you going to tell me this master plan you guys were concocting with Ed?" She narrowed her eyes at him, "I thought we were all a team here, Roy-boy. What's with this going behind my back about this whole thing? I mean, catching a homunculus is kind of a big deal."

Roy sighed. "It wasn't my plan it was Fullmetal's," Roy explained, "We were only roped into it at the last minute."

Shura narrowed her eyes at him before passing him. "Fine, but if I find out otherwise, you're going to regret lying!" she warned before entering the house.

….

Gluttony struggled fairly quietly against the chains encasing him, only whimpering slightly when he found his attempts only made them feel tighter. Gluttony pouted. Why did that strange human with the closed eyes have to do this to him? He only wanted to eat the Ishvalan...was that so wrong? He was only doing what Wrath had told him to do. He hadn't even tried to eat the girl in the black armor even though he really, really wanted to! Girls were always so much more tasty than men…

Gluttony slumped to the floor as his stomach growled. Today was just awful! Not only had he not been able to eat anyone, but now he was stuck somewhere all chained up with no way out and worst of all, no food! Father would be so disappointed in him, and he didn't want to see how that Astaroth man would respond. Gluttony didn't like him. He was so mean and scary!

Gluttony continued to lie there, worrying over his own predicament, when all of a sudden he heard the thumping of foot steps and smelled something on the air. He sniffed again and his eyes widened before he became angry as he recognized it. It was that boy! The Mustang boy father and Astaroth wanted! The one that killed Lust! Gluttony growled. He hated that boy! He hated him for taking his Lust from him! Just knowing he was around made him so angry and sad. He began to once more thrash against his chains, this time with a greater vigor than before.

….

"Alright…" Yukio said as he sat back and looked at his handy work, "She should be fine now, just give her a few hours before getting her a new IV, but this is all I can do for now. When she wakes up I can recommend a good automail mechanic if she so chooses to get some, but aside from that, the rest up to time." Both men beside him relaxed.

"Thank goodness…" Ling said with a sigh, "she's going to be alright…" despite his relief, there was still sadness in his and Fu's eyes as they looked down upon Lan Fan. She wouldn't be in this situation if he hadn't agreed to help Edward and Alphonse. "This is all my fault…" he said, "We shouldn't have tried to face the homunculi on our own like that!"

"Well, you're right about that," Yukio said she he put away his things, throwing him off guard as, "in my opinion this whole plan was insane. You all should be dead right now."

Ling glared at him. "How supportive of you…" he grumbled before sighing, "But you're right. We were fools…"

"I should have been there as well…" Fu growled fists balled, "I could have killed that monster for what he did to her…" He hated that man, the fuhrer. The next time he saw him, he make him regret the minute he thought of hurting his granddaughter

"Please don't try going after the homunculus now…" Yukio said with a sigh, "The last thing I need to worry about is either of you getting diced up." As he stood up, he heard the clomping of many footsteps coming towards the door.

The three men turned towards the door where they saw Rin, the exwires, and the Elrics stopped in front of the doorway before entering. "Rin?!" Yukio stated in surprise, "What on earth are you doing here?!"

"Doesn't matter, Is Lan Fan alri-" Rin started before the group almost collectively gasped as they saw her lying down, "Shit! What the hell happened?!"

"Oh my god…" Izumo hissed, stepping back.

"Her whole arm's gone!" Shima said with shock and discomfort clear in his voice. Edward subconsciously brought a hand to his automail shoulder as he looked down quietly at her resting form.

Rin took a step forward to get a closer look when Yukio noticed the bloodstain on his shirt. "Rin!" he cried, "Are you bleeding?! What happened to you!" He then grabbed his brother and jerked him away.

"Hey! Let me go!" he cried.

"No! I need to examine the wound!" he said lifting up his shirt, "This is a serious injury Rin! You could die if it doesn't get closed!"

Izumo and Shiemi blushed before covering their eyes. "Hey!" she cried, "We're right here, you know! Give us a warning before you start ripping his clothes off!"

Yukio scowled at her. "This is a medical emergency! Now is not the time to be worried about modest-" he stopped as he turned back to his brother's side to see the wound was already closed. Not completely healed, but closed. "Huh?" He wondered aloud.

"Uh, hello?" Rin started, rolling his eyes, "Demon healing powers, remember?"

Yukio nodded and stood up. "Alright, but I still want to get it cleaned up," he said, "It could be infected. And I definitely want to know how it happened and what you all are doing here."

Rin laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah...you see, we...kinda were involved in the same situation as them…" Rin gestured towards the Xingese guests."

"You were fighting homunculi?!" Yukio questioned.

"No," Bon said, "We were fighting demons, Rin just sorta stumbled in on Ed while he was fighting Scar and got caught up in everything."

"Wait, Scar? Demons?" Yukio continued, "How did they fit into this." "Ok, once I'm finished patching up my brother, I'm going to want a full explanation." The teens nodded and Yukio turned to ling. "Ling, can you get me another mat out for Rin to lie on while I fix him up?" He asked. The Xingese prince nodded before he headed off to find the closet where the mats were.

….

"So they homunculi knew about the attacks and planned around them…." Yukio repeated in a concerned tone, "And Scar is convinced Rin is the devil…." The other teens nodded in response. "You know I shouldn't be surprised at this point but this is still really bad news…" Yukio said, "This means somehow they can track our movements...but how is the question…"

"It could be Envy…" Edward thought, "He could be sneaking around as a rat or something and listening in on our conversations."

"Wait, do you think he could be here right now?" Rin asked as he sat up on the mat. He now had a fresh shirt on. Yukio cleaned up the blood and disinfected what he could before getting rid of any scarring with alkahestry.

"It's definitely possible," Ed said.

"Or there could have been demons spying on us," Konekomaru added, worry clear on his face, "There are many kinds of demons that hide in shadows waiting to attack their prey. If the homunculi have demons working for them, then it's very possible they could have some of those at their disposal…"

"That's not good…" Bon growled, "There could be one here and now and we wouldn't even know it…" The group grew equally silent and tense at that thought. There could be a demon watching them right now.

"Don't worry," a voice said. They turned to see Shura standing in the doorway. "I'll perform a sweep later," she said, "For now I want the Elrics, Rin, and my students to come with me for a little bit." The group exchanged confused looks. "I meant now. So come on!" she added before walking out of the room. The group shuffled out after her with Ling trailing behind with curiosity. She lead them to an empty room in the shack that was probably supposed to be a living room.

"Well, now that things are relatively calm," Shura said, moving to the center of the room, "I think it's time that we finish that little talk we were having earlier."

The five students swallowed and looked away awkwardly. Rin, Edward, Alphonse and Ling all exchanged confused looks. "Come on, now Shura!" Shima said, "I think we've all learned our lesson here…"

"Really? Because I disagree!" she said, crossing her arms, "Seriously, what were you thinking? Did you have any idea what you were going up against beforehand?"

"Well not really…" Konekomaru muttered.

"How easy would it have been to just come and find me or wait on your crazy plan for another hour so I could help?" she snapped, "You do realize that these homunculi are allied with extremely powerful demons, right? Demons that even a full exorcist would have serious trouble with? I was sent with you knuckle heads for a reason you know!"

"We're sorry Miss Shura!" Shiemi cried.

"Hey, don't shove all the blame on them!" Edward said, "It was my plan to begin with. They got roped into it because I didn't account for demons at first."

"Oh yeah, by the way, what the hell were you guys thinking?" she said, turning on them, "Rin, why the hell did you think you could take on a professional sword fighter and a serial killer with essentially a death touch? You've just barely learned the basics of sword fighting. And why didn't you tell me you guys were up to this at practice? I could have helped."

"Well for one thing I obviously am better than you think, seeing as I clearly survived!" He retorted.

"Rin, you had a terrible gash in your side that would have killed you had you not had super demon healing powers," she responded bluntly, crossing her arms.

"Let me finish ok!" Rin continued, "Secondly, I had no idea about this crazy plan! I just literally stumbled into the fight while downtown."

She stared at him for a second before sighing. "I'd say you're lying but considering what Ed has told me about you and everything else that I've learned about you, I believe you," she said, "You and Princey are off the hook. You can't help the fact that trouble literally gravitates in your direction, and I think Ling already regrets today enough." Ling faced away slightly but nodded. She then turned to the remaining teenagers. "As for the rest of you," she said, "While I can't legally punish Ed-boy and the iron giant over here, as my students I can still teach you five a lesson." She smirked at them making them all exchange fearful looks. Ed and the others also looked concerned for their sakes.

…

Ling, Rin, Edward, and Alphonse all stared dumbly at the sight before them. The five teens sat with their knees in front of them and a very strange looking rock lying on each of their laps. They all looked extremely uncomfortable. "That's your punishment?" Rin asked, "I don't get it…" Bon glared at him at that.

"Why do those rocks make them look so distressed?" Al asked in concern, "Are they extremely heavy or something?"

"You bet they are!" Shura said, leaning against the door frame with a smirk, "They're called bariyon. They're a kind of low level demon. The longer they sit on someone, the heavier they feel to that person."

The four non-exorcists gave her alarmed looks. "These things just increase in mass without taking in more matter?!" Alphonse questioned, "How is that possible?!"

"Welcome to the world of demons kid," she responded, "They don't follow the laws of physics. Ain't that right, Ed?"

"I'm afraid she's correct…" Ed muttered as he continued to stare at the scene before him.

"Um, is this a common punishment for them?" Rin asked nervously.

"Seeing as it's the fourth time I've had to do it, yes," she explained with a shrug, "Twenty more minutes guys. Come on, you can handle it." The three alchemists and the one prince all gave her concerned and fearful looks.

"Well, I'm certainly glad I'm not one of her official students..." Ling observed.

"Brother, I think its official," Al said, "She's like a second Teacher…"

"Nah, Mrs Curtis is definitely scarier…" Rin whispered back, "And wouldn't drink as much or dress like she does…"

"Still let's hope those two never meet and decide to share secrets…" Ed muttered.

"What was that?" Shura said turning towards them and raising an eyebrow. The three alchemists nearly jumped out of their skins.

"Oh nothing!" Edward said, laughing nervously, "Don't mind us, ok? Come on guys, let's go." With that the four backed out of the room. She narrowed her eyes at them before turning back to her students.


	50. Eaten out of house and home

After escaping the awkward situation, Rin, Ling, and Edward walked back down the hall to where Yukio was. They walked in on him in a middle of a conversation with Roy, Fu, and Riza.

They turned to the new inhabitants of the room curiously. Roy nodded a greeting at them. "Rin good to see you're patched up now," he said before turning to Edward and Ling, "And you two, It's a good thing that you showed up. We need to have a conversation with you." The two exchanged looks.

"Is something wrong?" Ling asked, "Does it have to do with Lan Fan?"

"Lan Fan is fine," Fu confirmed, "This instead has to do with the fight you partook in, young lord."

"We need to know about the homunculus you fought," Roy explained, "You said there were two of them. Also I would like to know more about these allies of Scar if you have anymore information on them." Rin, Edward, and Ling all gained serious expressions before nodding.

"Actually, there is something important that you all need to know," Ling said, causing everyone else to raise an eyebrow.

…

Envy muttered as he sniffed his way through the brush. As he lost the direction of the scent again, he raised his large doberman head to sniff the air, only to hit his head on a low hanging branch. He growled and recoiled before shaking his head. "Damn it…" he cursed. Stupid Gluttony...why the hell did he have to get captured? Couldn't it have been anyone else? He'd even prefer the embarrassment of getting captured himself! At least he could have broken himself out afterwards and kicked all of their asses….But nooooo! It just had to be the one who would be too incompetent to get away on his own…and, unfortunately, the best tracker they had…

Turns out that none of the demons that Astaroth had under his power were particularly good at hunting things down. Envy didn't fully understand it, but unless were his "kin" he couldn't summon them, and a lot of the good trackers in the demon world either were kin to his brother Iblis or Amaimon. And because they had gotten out of town, Pride couldn't find them either. Sooooo...Envy was now stuck with tracking down his sibling. Great. This was just great! As he pressed forward, finding the faint scent again he could tell this was going to be a long, long day.

….

"The furher?!" Roy questioned, "You're serious?! He's a homunculus?" The whole room besides Fu was in shock over what Ling had just told him. This news had completely caught them off guard, however they realized they shouldn't have been surprised by it. What with lab five and three it was already clear there was someone working very high up in the inside.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Ed questioned, "Are positive it wasn't just someone who looked like him?"

Ling shook his head solemnly. "I'm positive," he stated firmly, "Unless Bradley has an evil twin brother, there's no way it wasn't him."

They all stood there in silence for a moment, letting these implications sink in. The silence was then broken by Rin cursing in frustration and kicking a wooden crate, shattering it. "GOD DAMN IT!" he cried, running his fingers through his hair, "I can't believe I missed that!"

"Rin, what are you talking about?" Alphonse questioned.

"I always knew there was something off about that guy!" Rin exclaimed, "I could always just feel it! Even when I was kid! It was always like how the other homunculi felt but I never realized it! Man I feel so stupid!"

"Wait, are you saying you can sense chi?" Ling questioned, "How is that possible?!"

"No, but I can feel like something's wrong when I'm around some really bad demon and stuff...and the homunculi I guess," he explained, "But it's not like Yukio's thing. I pretty much have to be within twenty feet of the thing."

Riza stroked her chin. "I suppose that makes sense…" she said, "It might be from your demon half. An instinct to tell you when danger is around."

"A lot of demons naturally swarm around sources of sin and evil," Yukio offered, "Maybe that's what's tipping you off. After all we are literally fighting creatures named after the seven deadly sins."

"Maybe…" Rin said, "Still...I feel like an idiot for not realizing something was up sooner….I mean it seems so obvious now!"

"To be fair Rin, anyone of us could easily have figured it out as well had we thought about it long enough," Riza assured, "It isn't exactly surprising in hindsight. From all the wars and border trouble we've had since he went into office alone we should have suspected it."

"There was that attack in Dublith he orchestrated on that rouge homunculus for no reason," Al offered.

"Hell, Hughes had come really close to figuring it out by suggesting he or his advisors were involved in this giant transmutation circle scheme," Roy admitted.

"I should have noticed something was wrong right away too," Yukio admitted, "I am the one with the ability to sense chi. I had sensed something wrong with him but I wasn't able to make the connection because I had no idea what to make of it."

"So wait…" Rin said, perking up slightly, "I'm not the only one being an idiot?" "WOOOOHOOO!" he cried throwing his arms in the air much to everyone's annoyance.

"I hear celebrating in here. Is there an actual reason for it, or is a dumb teenager just being a dumb teenager?" Shura called before moving into the doorway. Bon was standing behind her.

"The latter," Yukio said bluntly.

"HEY!" his twin immediately responded.

"Well I guess it's a good thing I'm here, cause I have some good news," she said, "I just finished putting up a demon barrier around the shack. That should keep most everything out for the next few hours."

"Good," Roy said with a thankful nod.

"Unfortunately…." she continued, "I have to leave for a little while."

Everyone in the room gave confused looks. "Why's that?" Ling questioned.

Shura jabbed a thumb back in the direction of the room where the rest of her students were. "I have to get the kiddos to bed. We can't head back to the hotel and I want to get them all to their assignment spots before dark," she said, "But Bon will be staying here incase anything happens while I'm gone."

Ed and Rin and Riza and Roy exchanged confused looks. "Why him?" Rin asked, before noticing the teen's annoyed look and adding, "No offence, I mean why him in particular?"

"Because Bon here," Shura said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, "Is currently top of his class and has pretty much half the bible and hundreds of Buddhist prayers completely memorized. He can literally kill demons just by saying the right thing. I think you'd like having someone who could do that, right?" The group exchanged looks before nodding.

"Alrighty then," she said turning on her heels to head for the door, "I'mma go get the rest of the kids ready to go. I'll be back in a few hours. Try not to die while I'm gone, k?" She didn't wait for them to respond before leaving. Once she had, Roy turned back to the group.

"Well, I guess we should get you filled in on what you missed," he said to Bon, "Then we can get started on the real debate: what are we going to do with the homunculus?"

….

The quartet of renegades sat in the basement of an abandoned building in the outskirts of Central. They had managed to avoid the police, but found they couldn't leave the city so easily. There were policemen stationed at every exit, looking out for the four. Thankfully, they found a safe hiding spot. They had a small fire going in the center of the room and they were all huddled around it, silently eating. Well, half of them were. Mei Chang was picking at her food while Dolcetto was too lost in his own thoughts to even pick up his food.

Scar glanced at him, trying to understand what was going on. He understood why Mei Chang was upset. She was still worried for her panda after all. But Dolcetto was the one he was confused by. He never skipped a meal. What was wrong with him? Was he injured in the fight?

"You're not eating," the Ishvalan finally spoke up.

Dolcetto suddenly snapped to attention. "Huh?" he said before blinking, "Oh, sorry." He then began picking at his food.

Scar narrowed his eyes as the silence resumed. After a few moments he spoke up again. "Something happened didn't it?" He asked, surprising the dog chimera, "Go on then. Say what's bothering you. Were you injured in the fight?"

"Injured in the figh-No, that's not it," he said.

"Well get on with it then," Yoki said, "Do you realize how many policemen I had to dodge to get this broth for dinner? I don't want it going to waste!"

"But the policemen don't know you're with us," Mei pointed out, "Why did you have to dodge them?"

"Shut up! It's very nerve wracking trying to buy goods in public while being on the lamb!" the middle aged man retorted.

"That's enough!" Scar announced, "Dolcetto, tell us what you were going to say."

The dog chimera paused for a moment. "Do you remember the woman that fought me today? The one with the sword and the red hair?" he asked.

Scar looked up for a moment, trying to remember the woman before nodding. He didn't get a good look at her, but he remembered she had tan skin and red hair. "Right! She was the one Xiao Mei bit!" Mei Chang remembered.

"Yeah, well while fighting her she told me something…" Dolcetto continued, "She said she was an exorcist. A first class one at that."

Mei and Scar's eyes widened while Yoki just looked confused. "What?" Scar questioned, "That's impossible. There haven't been any true exorcists for hundreds of years. The exorcists were messengers of Ishvala sent hundreds of years ago to teach my people how to kill demons. There have been no true exorcists since that time and from my understanding, only certain members of my of my people were trained in the ways of demon hunting."

"Well she told me she was first class exorcist trained with demon swords and a member of something called the Knights of the True Cross," he explained.

"She could have been lying…" Yoki suggested, although not really interested in the conversation.

"But wouldn't she have to know what an exorcist is first? From what I understand, there aren't many people in the world who do," Dolcetto said, "And furthermore, if she was trying to use it to get to me, she'd have to know that I'd know what it was and that it would mess with me, so she probably also knows about the kid as well."

"What does that mean?" Mei questioned, "Does that mean that kid with a tail is actually good? Or does it mean the woman is actually evil?"

"I don't know…" Scar said closing his eyes in contemplation. Had he been wrong about the child? Was he truly Shaitan? He had to be. After all, he bore the powers of those unearthly blue flames. "It could be that the woman was not an exorcist, but a demon in disguise coming to her master's aid. After all, we already know demons can take on human form," he explained, "It could have been a trick to convince us what we were doing was wrong…"

"Hmm…" Dolcetto responded with a nod. He turned back to his food, but he still had questions in his mind. If that woman really was a demon, then why hadn't they seen more demons? He remembered that horrifying cat thing. If the kid could just summon powerful demons to his aid, why hadn't summoned more and slaughtered them all like he had done back in the hideout? Dolcetto clenched his fists as he remembered that. No matter what the kid was, he still killed his friends. Human or not, he was still a monster in his book.

...Still something bothered him. He saw that girl there. The little blonde girl who had given him money to buy himself some food. She hadn't needed too, but she did anyways. And she had been worried about that Rin kid. They were clearly friends or possibly even closer. Why would a girl as gentle as that be friends with a monster like that? Was she aware of what he was? If she was, did that mean they were wrong about the boy or that there was some side to them that they didn't know about? He frowned as he contemplated this while eating his meal.

….

"Annnnd done," Winry said wiping her forehead. She had worked carefully on the metal appendage all afternoon weighing and reweighing pieces before replacing them, tightening bolts and refitting the case. It had been a lot of work, but to make sure this was perfect for the little girl, it was worth it.

Elica suddenly sat up straight. She had been watching her work from the couch while coloring. "Really?" Elicia piped up, eyes shining, "Can I try it on now? Please?"

Winry smiled at her. "Of course!" she responded, standing up with appendage and walking over to her. She knelt down and lifted her skirt over her knee before removing the skin colored leg and replacing it with the faux automail one. She them helped the girl off the couch and into a standing position. She couldn't walk on her own yet, but she had learned how balance on it pretty quickly. "So how does it feel?" she asked.

She lifted the leg a couple times before looking up at Winry and chirping, "Great!"

Winry hummed in delight. "That's Wonderful!" she responded. Nothing made her happier than to see a smile on a customer's face, particularly from her youngest customer. She then helped the three year old back onto the couch before beginning to pick up her tools.

"Hey girls! Dinner's ready!" Maes called as he walked into the room, "How are you two doing in here?"

"We're doing great, Mr. Hughes!" Winry said with a smile.

"Daddy!" Elicia called extending her arms into the air, "Look! Winry fixed my new leg up!" She lifted it into the air as high as she could for him to see.

"Really?" he said, coming over to scoop her up, "That's fantastic news. I can already tell the leg is a little lighter. How does it feel sweetie?"

"It's awesome!" She said, "I look cool like Ed! Right Winry?"

She chuckled slightly. "You do, but that's the first time I've heard some one else describe Ed as cool," she said.

"Well his leg and arm are cool," Elicia responded.

"That's because I made them!" Winry joked, standing up after closing the suitcase. All of a sudden there was a knock at the door. Maes and Winry blinked in surprise. "Who could that be?" Winry questioned.

"I might have an idea…" Maes mumbled as he walked over towards the door, Winry following in toe. He got to the door and opened it to find Shura and Shima standing in the late afternoon light. Shura had her black coat on and a suitcase at her side with a duffle bag on top. Shima had another suitcase behind him and a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, Hughes," the woman said, "It is Hughes, right?"

"Yup!" the man said, extending a hand out to her and shaking hers, "It's good to see you again! You too, kid! Renzo Shima, was it?" Winry blinked in surprise. They knew eachother?

"Yeah! That's me!" the pink haired boy said holding a hand up in the air, "But you can just call me Shima. Everyone else does."

"Good to know," he said. Elicia had been staring at the pair carefully from her place in Hughes' arms. The girl shifted when Shima looked at her.

"Hey, who's this little sweetheart?" he asked smiling at her. The little girl blushed and hid her face in Hughes' neck, causing the boy to chuckle.

"Now don't get him started!" Shura warned teasingly, "Roy warned me about your infamous daughter stories."

Hughes rolled his eyes. "Oh fine! I'll keep introductions short!" he said, "I guess I don't need to tell you how cute she is anyways as you can clearly see for yourself." "This is my special little girl, Elicia,"he said before turning to look at her, "Elicia, these are the nice people I told you would be staying with us. Can you say hello to them for me?" Winry raised an eyebrow. So they would be staying with Hughes? Why was that?

The girl peaked up again before fixating on Shima. She then turned to her father and said, "Daddy? Why is the boy's hair all pink? It looks funny…"

Shima was taken aback by this while Shura burst out laughing. "My hair is not funny looking!" Shima defended, bringing a hand up to his hair, "It looks great! The ladies love my hair!"

"Elicia!" Hughes chastised gently, "Now don't be rude to our guest."

"Sorry…" she said to the boy who was still pouting.

"Nah it's fine," Shura said waving him off, "He's taken worse blows to his pride than a little insult like that." "Now, mind if we come in?" she asked, "No offence, but standing out here on the porch is tiring."

"That's fine! Come on in you two," Hughes said, moving out of the way. "Gracia?" Hughes called, "do you think we have enough food for two more people, or do I need to make a run to the store?"

"Hmmm?" She said, stepping out of the kitchen to give a look of surprise, "Oh are those kids you said would be staying with us here?"

"Mhm!" he said with a nod.

His wife gave a confused look as she walked into the living room. "Sweetheart, I thought you said we were housing two teenage boys…" she said, looking towards him for an explanation.

Hughes blinked before slapping his forehead. "Oh that's right!" he exclaimed before turning to Shura, "Where is the other one anyways? Did Mustang change the plan?"

"Mustang?" Winry questioned aloud.

"No, he'll be coming later, I just needed him to take care of something for me," she explained before leaning in and saying in a low voice, "The Elrics managed to catch one of those homunculus things, and he's making sure there aren't any demons attacking while I'm gone."

Maes looked slightly alarmed by this as he moved away but nodded seriously. "Thanks for letting me know," he said, "When you get back to them, call me if they need any help."

"Will do," she responded.

"Daddy?" Elica asked, "What was she talking about? You two were talking too quietly for me to hear."

"Yes…" Gracia said, a worried look on her face, "Is something wrong?"

Hughes smiled. "No, everything's fine," he said, "You don't need to worry. Our other guest is just taking a bit longer to get here."

"Yeah," Shura said before setting the bags down, "I'm dropping off his bags here for now, and I'll have Hawkeye bring him over later tonight once I get back to the colonel."

"Oh I see," she said, "Well it's nice to meet you miss-"

"Shura. Just call me Shura," she said holding out her hand, "nice ta meet ya, ma'am."

Gracia smiled as she walked over and shook her hand. "It's Gracia," she said with a smile, "By the way, might I ask how you know these boys?"

"I'm their teacher," she explained, "I'm the one training them to be exorcists. I'm actually a first class exorcist myself."

"Really?" she said in surprise, "That's amazing! And yet you're so young!"

Shura smirked. "Eh, what can I say? I'm the best," she said with a shrug and a cheeky smile. Shima rolled his eyes at her.

"So, will you be staying for dinner?" She asked.

"Nah," Shura responded, "I'd love to but I'm afraid I still have some stuff I need to take care of." She then jabbed a thumb behind her. "I still have to get a few of my kids over to the armstrong estate. Thanks for the offer though."

"Alright, well thanks for stopping by and dropping him off," Maes said, gesturing to Shima.

"Eh, it was my job," she said with a shrug, "See ya around." She waved goodbye before heading out the door.

"Say goodbye Elicia," Maes said as they watched Shura leave.

"Mmr…." the little girl started before shouting, "BYE LADY." Maes smiled at her daughter before closing the door.

Once he had done so, Winry finally spoke up. "Ok...is anyone going to explain to me what just happened?" She asked, "Why is he staying here? And what does the Colonel have to do with this?"

"Yeah daddy," Elicia asked, "Why is the pink haired boy staying with us?"

"Oh! Sorry Winry," Maes said, "Roy and Shura made an agreement to have all of her students staying with members of his team while they were in Central so it didn't raise suspicion if they were all clumped together in the same place. In return they're making sure our homes are safe." He then smiled at his daughter. "Which means you won't have to worry about any monsters!" He said.

"Yay!" the girl cried, "Monsters are meanies! He can help Kuro!"

"Exactly," Maes said. He then walked over to Winry. "Ok, sweetheart," he said to the girl, "Daddy needs to finish helping Mommy in the kitchen, so he has to put you down now."

"Awww…." the girl said with a pout as her father set her down.

"Sorry, sweetie. Winry, do you think you could take her to go get cleaned up?" He asked.

"Sure thing, Mr. Hughes," she said as she got up and picked up the little girl. As she did so, Shima saw a glint of something off of the girl's leg. As he took a second look, his eyes widened as he realized her leg was made of metal. Was that automail?! Well he supposed that explained why Winry was there. Why did that girl have automail?

He didn't say anything until Winry came back down stairs and set her down in her booster seat as Maes set the table. Once she had, he wandered over to her.

"So...I didn't know you had automail patients so young…" he said.

Winry blinked in confusion before realization dawned on her. "Oh no…" she said, "She's much too young for automail. It's just a normal prosthetic."

"Ah," Shima said with a nod, "Um...If you don't mind me asking…" Shima bit his lip before continuing, "What happened to her?"

Winry looked down sadly. "She was attacked by a demon," she explained.

Shima's eyes widened at that. "You're kidding!" He hissed.

"I'm not," she insisted, "The house was attacked a little over a month ago, and she and Gracia were inside. If Rin hadn't come along and saved them, they could both be dead right now."

"Wait...Rin saved them?" Shima repeated.

"Yeah...and before that he saved Mr. Hughes' life too," She explained, "They're like family to him. You should see him around Elicia. He practically spoils her! He'd do anything to protect these three, or Ed and Al, or anyone he cares about." She huffed in amusement. "It's sweet really," she said, "Although I wish he wouldn't get himself into trouble so often. Any one of us would be devastated if something ever happened to him."

"Hm…" Shima said thoughtfully, "That's a great friend you have there…" He knew Rin wasn't a bad person; heck he might even call him a good friend with a bit more time. Still it was weird seeing how much of an impact he had on other people. This happy family might still be alive without him! He chuckled. It seemed like the son of Satan was their guardian angel! How ironic…

All of a sudden he heard shuffling as Winry went over to her case and finished packing up. "Hm?" Shima said, raising an eyebrow, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, sorry," she said, "I have to head out so I can catch the last train tonight." "I work in Rush Valley and ended up staying here longer than I should for Ed's sake," she explained, "The orders for me are really piling up back at Mr. Garfield's so I really gotta head out. Can you tell the boys goodbye for me when you see them?"

Shima nodded. "Sure, good luck getting back," he responded.

"See ya Winry!" Maes called as he finished bringing up an extra chair from down stairs, "Thanks for all of your help!"

She smiled. "No problem, Mr. Hughes," she said, "Have a good night!" With that she stepped out the door.

…..

"I'm telling you, the stone should be ours!" Ling argued, crossing his arms, "Lan Fan lost an arm to get this thing! On top of that, if I don't hurry and bring it back to Xing, someone else could have found their own stone and brought it back?"

Rin and the others watched in annoyance from the sidelines. The originally were talking about how they planned on interrogating the homunculus and how long they planned on keeping him, however, it turned to arguing between Roy and the teenage prince after Bon had asked what they planned on doing with him afterwards. This argument had been going on for a few minutes. Hawkeye had stepped out after it started.

"I highly doubt that," Mustang responded, "If just anyone could find a philosopher's stone, do you think we would be needing to keep fatso chained up?" "Besides, the Elrics and I need it just as much," he said, "They need it to get their bodies back to normal and I need it to fix my friend. He lost his ability to walk thanks to one of those things!"

"But it was part of the deal that we would get the stone!" Ling retorted, "The Elrics needed to interrogate him and in return for helping, we would get the stone."

"Look, you can have it when we're done with it," Roy responded, causing Ling to frown at him.

The boys sighed in annoyance as the arguing continued. Not that Ed and Al didn't want the stone, but couldn't they figure this out after they interrogated the homunculus? "You just had to open your big mouth…" Edward muttered to Bon.

"Shut up…" he growled, glaring at him.

"No," Edward responded, returning the glare.

Rin slouched in his seat. He was so bored with this conversation he would do anything to drown it out. Thankfully, he didn't have to as something caught his attention. It was a feint twanging sound but it was enough to make his ears perk up. "Hey…." he said, suddenly sitting up, "Did any of you guys hear that?"

Edward, Bon, Al, and Yukio all turned to him.

"Nothing but bickering," Edward said.

"Yeah, what are you talking about, Rin?" Yukio questioned, a concerned look on his face.

"It was like something snapped," Rin said, "Something metal…" they didn't have a chance to contemplate this as a large boom and a powerful force shook the whole building. Everyone stumbled as the shack shook back and forth. A sound like that of a tornado ripped through the air for a moment before everything settled again.

"What the hell?!" Roy questioned, "It felt like we just were hit by an earthquake!"

"But what was that sound…" Rin said, "And does anyone else feel a draft?"

"Come on, let's go outside and see what happened," Edward said standing up. They all rushed outside and to their surprise, a fourth of the house was gone, Plus Hawkeye's flatbed. She was standing there in shock to the sidelines, still processing what had just happened.

"Hawkeye!" Roy cried, "Are you alright."

She snapped out of her stupor and looked at him. "Colonel, watch out!" She cried, "it got out and-" Suddenly something stepped out of the darkened and newly formed cavity. It was Gluttony, but he looked different. His stomach and lower jaw had fused together to form a gaping maw. Tusks stuck out from the side of it and a giant I sat at the center.

Gluttony turned to the group and growled. "MUSTANG!" He cried. A vortex then formed where his stomach was, trying to suck them in. They all jumped out of the way in time and just barely avoided being absorbed.

"It's enraged!" Ling cried.

"Yeah, but why is it mad at the Colonel?" Ed questioned.

"YOU KILLED MY LUST!" the homunculus continued in its fury.

"Oh…." Rin muttered as realization dawned on him, "Crap...I don't think it's mad at Dad…" "I think it's pissed at me for killing its buddy…" he muttered.

"You what?!" Bon shouted.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Rin defended, "or...at least I don't think I did…"

Roy stood up. "Well, whatever its reasoning is, I'm not about to let it hurt either of my kids!" he shouted before snapping his fingers. Red-hot flames rocketed toward the homunculus. The fire roared as it was engulfed in it and Roy smirked. However, the smirk did not last long, as the homunculus quickly countered the attack by sucking in all of the fire. Everyone was wide eyed as it gave off a small belch of smoke.

"It swallowed it…." Ed said half in disbelief, half in annoyance.

There was a momentary pause as they all process what happened before Edward, Alphonse, Roy and Rin all bolted for the forest with gluttony chasing after them. Yukio and the others watched this occur before turning to Ling and the others. "We need to get out of here," he stated, "Riza, can you get dad's car ready? I need to get Lan Fan out of the house and somewhere safer."

She nodded. "Right, but what about the Colonel and your brother," she asked.

"Something tells me they'll round their way back in a little bit," he said, "If we end up waiting longer than thirty minutes we can head in after them." Hawkeye nodded and went to go get their father's keys from inside the shack.

Meanwhile, Roy, Rin, and the Elrics were running for their life. Rin could hear the pounding of the homunculus' footsteps not far behind them. "Jeez! How is it keeping up with us?!" Rin cried.

"My question is how did it even know you were here?!" Ed asked, "You never went in to check on him did you?"

"No, I didn't go near him!" he said.

"Wait a minute!" Al said, "Is it possible he could smell you?"

"Huh?!" Rin questioned.

"Wait, Al's right," Ed said, "Think about this! He can't see us in the dark, and Rin never went near him so he couldn't have seen or heard him, but he could have smelled him as we all passed by where he was! Plus he's not human. He already has a bunch of other insane powers. It's not a stretch to think he has better senses than us."

"So?! What's your point?" Rin asked.

"Agreed, I would like to know where you're going with this," Roy said.

"So, I have a plan!" Ed explained with a smirk, "But I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt."

Roy gave the young alchemist a confused look while Rin stumbled and halted at that. "I'm sorry, but what?!" he cried, "How is me stripping gonna save our skins?!"

"We don't have time for questions, just take off the damn shirt!" Ed snapped as he heard the sound of something very large crashing through the trees.

Roy's eyes widened as he realized where Ed's train of thought was headed. "Just do as he says, Rin!" he responded.

Rin turned to his father incredulously and made objectionary noises before begrudgingly doing as he was told. "Alright, fine! Jeez!" he retorted, beginning to pull the T-shirt over his head.

….

Gluttony trampled through the brush as fast as he could. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything, but that didn't matter. He could smell all three of the flesh humans perfectly fine, especially the boy who killed his dear Lust. His scent was the strongest, and he could tell he was getting closer. As he followed the scent, he could see the outline of a figure in the distance with his beady eyes. The strong odor was coming straight from it. Gluttony growled before lunging at it.

However, as he did so he was quickly surprised to find that the head was not attached to the rest of the body and that it rolled off as soon as he touched it. The homunculus backed off in confusion. What was going on? Had he really killed the Mustang boy so easily? Poor Gluttony scrunched his brow in confusion as he processed what had just happened. After a short moment, he figured out that the figure was not a human but a stone mound with a shirt on top of it, and what had rolled off was another stone that looked like a face sticking its tongue out at him.

Gluttony gasped. They had tricked him! Those humans had fooled him and gotten away! He couldn't even smell the boy anymore and the other scents were feint. The poor homunculi felt like crying. He was never going to get to avenge his Lust! "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he shouted at the sky, "MUSTANG!"

….

Yukio and Riza looked up as they heard the screaming. "Was that the homunculus?" Yukio questioned.

The lieutenant nodded. "Sounds like it," she said.

"But where are the others?" Ling questioned in concern.

All of a sudden they saw Alphonse burst through the brush with Roy and Edward under his arms. "Don't worry! We're alright!" the suit of armor called. Fu looked up from where he was setting Lan Fan in the car. He stopped in front of the group and set his brother and the colonel down.

"Ha! I knew that old trick would work!" Edward said.

"Yeah, thank goodness he was tracking us by scent and not some other weird ability," Roy said.

"Wait, where's Rin?" Riza questioned.

"Here…." a voice groaned from inside the suit of armor. Alphonse opened up his chest and let the dizzy boy out. Once he got out, Rin stumbled for a moment and covered his mouth as if he was going to puke. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick…" he muttered, "Who knew a suit of armor could give you motion sickness…"

"Sorry!" Alphonse said.

Riza raised an eyebrow at him while Yukio and the others gave him confused looks. "Do I even want to ask what happened?" she said turning to the colonel.

"It was part of Ed's plan," Roy explained, "and it did get us out of there safely."

"Fair enough," she responded.

Suddenly, Bon burst through what was left of the door with Yukio's bags. Before he saw them, Alphonse quickly closed his chest plate again so he couldn't see there was nothing inside. "Alright, I got what's left of the medical supplies," he said before noticing that Roy and the others had returned. "Ok good they're-" he started before noticing Rin, "Ok why is he-"

"It was a matter of life or death, ok?" the teen defended.

Bon Gave him an incredulous look before shaking his head. "Never mind," he responded, "So are we ready to get out of here?"

"We would be, but there's just one problem," Yukio said, "The car can only fit five people. Some of us going to have to stay here."

There was a long pause before the Elric brothers spoke up. "We'll stay," Edward said, "We caught that thing and we can't let it get away and get back to its group to tell them what happened."

"I'll stay too," Ling announced confidently.

Fu and Lan Fan turned to him in surprise. "Young lord! You can't stay here alone!" Lan Fan argued, "You could get killed."

Ling frowned at her. "You gave up your arm so we could capture that thing," he said, "I can't let all that you did for me, all that you sacrificed go to waste!"

"Then let me stay with you," Fu said, "I'll help you fight the monster."

"No!" Ling insisted, "You need to stay with Lan Fan. Make sure she safe. What if something else attacks wherever you go? She's in no condition to fight." Although it was true that Lan Fan couldn't defend herself like this, the real reason for wanting Fu to go with her was that he didn't want to come close to losing anyone else. Lan Fan frowned at him but said nothing.

"If the Elrics are staying then I am too," Roy said, pulling on his other ignition glove.

"Oh hell no!" Rin said, "There's no way you're staying behind!"

Roy frowned at him. "And why not?"

"Hello! Don't you remember what happened when you tried fry the guy earlier?" Rin responded it, "What do you plan on doing? Give him a second course? Gee, that's sure gonna work!"

Roy glared at his son and folded his arms. "Oh, and what do you suggest?" Roy said.

Rin smirked. "Isn't it obvious?" He said, "I'm gonna stay!"

"What?!" Yukio cried, "Rin that's a terrible idea!"

"I agree. Need I remind you he's the one who wants you dead!" Roy argued.

"Yeah, but I'm also the one with a sword that can actually KILL a homunculus!" Rin countered.

"I'm sorry sir, but he has a point," Riza suddenly spoke up, "He is the only one of us who actually has the ability to slay one of those things. Plus you'd be far more useful back at headquarters."

Roy gave her a betrayed look. He was about to protest when the Elrics piped up. "She's right, there's nothing you can really do here," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, you're pretty much useless here. You'd honestly just get in the way," Ed added.

Roy's mouth hung open in offence before he turned to his other son for some support. Yukio sighed. "I'm sorry, Dad, but they're right. You can't really do anything here that Rin couldn't do better."

Roy looked utterly crushed and shocked by this. His own son was calling him useless? The terrible blow this made to his pride caused him to fall to his knees.

"Jeez, how did this guy make colonel?" Edward muttered.

"Come on Colonel," Hawkeye said with a sigh, helping him up and into the car, "That still leaves us with one person left who needs to stay."

There was a silence before Bon finally said something. "I'll stay," he announced, "I was told to stay here and stop trouble from happening anyways. Besides, it's part of my mission to protect these idiots." He gestured to Rin and the Elrics.

"Are you crazy?" Roy questioned, "How are you any more capable of handling that thing than I am? You aren't even trained in basic combat."

"But I am an exorcist and it's night," he explained, "That's when demons are at their most powerful, and Shura's circle only enclosed the house. Who knows what's out in those woods." "And who says I can't fight? I have basic training in being a dragoon. Give me a gun and I can hold him off for a bit," Bon argued.

Roy scowled before nodding. "Alright," Riza said, "Then we should be heading out." She pulled a gun and three cartridges out of the trunk of the car and handed them to Bon before getting into the car herself. "Good luck boys," she said, saluting them.

Ed, Rin, and Bon saluted back with Alphonse bowing and Ling nodding.

"Be safe Rin," Yukio said, "Please..."

"I'll try my best," he said with a nod.

His brother frowned at him. "You better," he said, "If you come back missing an arm or leg or worse…"

"I won't, I promise!" Rin said.

His brother glared at him but nodded. Finally, his father rolled down the window and spoke to him. "Rin, Fullmetal?" He said, "Be careful. Both of you."

Rin smiled. "Don't worry! I'll be fine," he said, "If he tries to eat me I'll just cut my way out." He smirked at that.

Roy smiled briefly and rolled his eyes. "It's my job to worry," he said, "Good luck." With that he rolled up the window. The five watched as the car started and they headed off.

As they drove away, everyone in the car was silent. Their thoughts were all on the people they left behind. Fu and Lan Fan worried for their lord while Riza, Yukio, and Roy were worried about Rin and the Elrics. There was a cloud of nerves hanging over them, but they all knew they had to push past it. After all, they had work to do to. The fuhrer was homunculus, and so they needed to gather as many allies as they could at the moment. But first, they had to pay a visit to a friend of Roy's…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOHOOO! Fifty chapters! Thanks for sticking with the story for so long guys. I'm glad that you've enjoyed it so far. I don't know when the next chapter will be but I'll try to work on it here soon. 
> 
> In the meantime, I'll try to get posted some other stuff I've been working on, including a 2003 fma AU series I started where Hohenhiem didn't abandon envy to dante.


	51. Cream-faced loon

Dr. Knox sat on his couch, alone in his messy living room as he read his newspaper. It was already dark. He should probably go to bed if he wanted to get any good amount of sleep. He had to get back on shift at 5 the next morning. Then again, it's not like people would notice if he was tired. His usual frank demeanor was hard to distinguish from his grumpy one. Still, he would probably regret not going to bed early, as he knew he would hate to have to deal with the idiots in his office with less than six hours of sleep. So he took the last swig of his scotch and got up to head upstairs to get to bed.

….Or at least he tried to. His plan was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. He contemplated ignoring it, but when the second knock came a bit more urgently, he sighed and turned towards the door. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" he snapped. When he got to the door, he opened it to find Roy, Riza, and Yukio supporting a girl missing an arm with an unfamiliar old man in black clothing. He raised an eyebrow at Roy before saying. "Do I even want to know what you've gotten yourself into, or will it incriminate me if you tell me?" he questioned.

"Probably," Roy said with an apologetic frown, "Sorry to bother you so late. We just need a safe place to hide this girl and her grandfather for now. We can't take her to a hospital or the people after us might find her."

There was pregnant pause before Dr. Knox sighed. "Fine," he said, "They can take the spare room upstairs. But the rest of you better be gone before I hit the hay." Roy nodded in gratitude as Knox moved aside to let them through the door.

….

It was dark by the time Envy tracked the scent back to the source. He could barely see anything without the city lights. With the dog body he was currently in, it made things a little easier, but Gluttony probably couldn't see a thing if he was out here. "Great…." he muttered, "Let's hope he doesn't mistake me for a snack then…" He continued forward for a few more moments before something sharp pressed into his paw. He yelped and jumped back trying to get the thorn out of it by rubbing it against a rock. "Damn it!" he snarled, "I hate this stupid forest! Why did they have to come here of a places?" He huffed as he got rid of it. He really did despise this forest, but not because of all the minor annoyances. It was more because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He glanced over his shoulder. He couldn't see anyone, although the dark wasn't helping. And he couldn't distinguish all the unfamiliar scents from one another in the forest. Still, every time he turned his back he felt like there was someone behind him, lurking just out of sight.

Envy shook his head. He didn't have time for this nonsense. He just needed to get in, find Gluttony, and get out as soon as possible.

"MUSTANG!"

Envy's ear twitched at the noise. He smirked as best he could in his doggy disguise. Well, that was him alright. However, he frowned again as he realized the implications of that shout. Damn it! Was he trying to eat one of the sacrifices?! Envy sighed as he ran off in the direction of the shout. He hoped he could make it over there in time before he did something they'd all regret…

….

"MUSTANG!" Gluttony shouted, absorbing another line of trees, "WHERE….WHERE! I MUST EAT YOU! YOU WILL PAY! PAY FOR HURTING MY LUST!"

Rin, Bon, the Elrics, and Ling all hid in the bushes behind the ugly behemoth. "Really?" Rin questioned, thoroughly disgusted, "Does he have to want to eat me? Can't he kill me some normal way?" Usually he wouldn't care how someone was trying to kill him, he'd just fight back. However...this time he couldn't help but recall a rather traumatic experience as a child with a freak in an alleyway. He shuddered at the thought.

"When has someone ever tried to kill you in a normal way?" Ed questioned, "What even is a normal way to kill someone? Killing shouldn't be normal!" He then blinked in surprise as he saw how uneasy Rin was. "Hey, are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick…" he questioned. The others looked at him curiously too.

"I'm fine…." Rin said, grimacing as he stood up and walked forward, "Let's just do this already."

"I'm starting to have regrets about this," Ling muttered.

"Yeah, if Rin is worried, then this can't be good," Ed responded.

"Hey ugly!" Rin cried as he stepped out of the bushes, kurikara in hand. he unsheathed the blade as Gluttony turned to him. Bon's eyes widened as he saw the flames surround Rin and his tail unfurl. He had never experienced anything like it. Just seeing the eerie blue fire sent chills up his spines. Ling had a similar expression on his face as he felt Rin's power radiate off of him. He had felt it briefly a few times before but he had never felt the raw supernatural power up close before. He had gotten used to Rin's usual aura, but this was terrifying! He frowned as he knew for a fact he never wanted to be anywhere near the business end of that blade. Al also felt a tinge of fear and backed up a little subconsciously, remembering what had happened in Lab 3. "You're looking for me, right?" Rin shouted, "Well come get me!"

Gluttony roared in response, charging forward. Rin narrowed his eyes and got into position, ready to slice the homunculus to ribbons if necessary. However, they were cut off by the shout of a familiar voice.

"Stop it Gluttony!"

Both Rin and the homunculus paused and turned to see a black great dane looking down at them from a ledge. Rin could feel a dark presence coming from it. "You know you aren't allowed to eat that one!" it continued.

Everyone blinked in shock at this. "Did...that dog just talk?" Bon questioned.

"Apparently…" Ed responded.

"What the hell is that thing?" Bon questioned, "Is it some kind of grim?" He remembered from his text books all about the demon dogs that would hunt people down in the night from the shadow, picking off whatever lost souls they could find. But they were always described as looking more like wolves than any kind of domestic breed.

The dog turned to him with an offended and confused look. "What did you just call me?!" he questioned, "You better not have said what I thought you said or I'll rip your throat out!" How dare that human call him grim looking! Even in this dog from his black coat was beautifully sleek and silky, and his physique was perfect.

"I didn't call you…" he started before realizing he was arguing with a dog, "Just...never mind. I'm done with this day."

"It's not a 'grim' or whatever it was you called it," Ling growled, "It's a homunculus."

"Woah, woah, woah," Rin said, "Hold up. Are you telling me someone made a dog homunculus?! How is that even possible? I thought homunculi were supposed to be artificial humans!"

"Well if someone was able to create an artificial human then I guess it would be possible to make another artificial creature…" Alphonse suggested.

"So wait, are we gonna have to worry about any animal we run into being a homunculus?" Rin questioned, "Do I have to worry about a duck at the pond trying to kill me one day because it's secretly a duckmunculus?"

"Rin, that's not a real word," Ed responded, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well maybe it should be if it's something I have to worry about now!" Rin snapped back. Gluttony blinked in confusion at this conversation as his head turned back and forth between the two arguing parties. What were they talking about? Had Father made him another sibling that looks like a duck? He hoped that meant Father had brought back Lust, even if that meant she was a lot smaller and more feathery than she was before...

The dog gritted its teeth in annoyance and frustration. "Oh, for the love of-IT'S ME YOU IDIOTS!" the dog shouted before being engulfed in red electricity. Its shape dissolved and slowly became more humanoid. "See?!" Envy said, standing up and crossing his arms.

Bon's eyes widened in surprise at what transpired. Did he just shape shift? Could all of these homunculi do that?

Rin's and Ed's eyes flashed in recognition. "You!" Rin shouted, "You're the one who tried to kill my uncle!" Rin narrowed his eyes at him.

"And you're also the one that killed number 48 and kneed me in the stomach at the 5th Lab!" Ed added.

Envy smirked at Ed viciously. "Yup!" he chirped proudly, "I'm so glad you recognized me. It's good to see you again, pipsqueak!" The smug look on his face was quickly wiped away as both Rin and Edward lunged at him.

"What the…" he cried as he jumped away and landed next to a tree. "Hey! I'm not here to fight you brats! I'm just here to pick up Gluttony," he snapped, holding his hands up defensively. But Edward paid no mind as swung his fist at the homunculus, causing a crack in the tree next to him. Envy once again jumped out of the way, simultaneously missing Rin's blade by an inch. "What the hell is wrong with you two?! I didn't do anything!" he snapped.

"Um, hello! You tried to kill my uncle!" Rin snapped.

"Will you get over that already? He's alive isn't he?" Envy snapped before turning to Edward, "So what's your deal Pipsqueak? This isn't about me beating the crap out of you is it?" That earned him another attempt from Edward at giving him a right hook only for Envy to leap out of the way.

"Stop calling me that! This is the sixth time you called me a pipsqueak!" he snapped, absolutely livid, "Twice here, and then FOUR times at the laboratory!"

Envy raised an eyebrow at Ed. "Impressive, you got a sharp memory there," Envy said sarcastically.

Ling and Bon looked on disbelievingly. "Really? That's what he was so upset about?" Bon muttered before massaging the bridge of his nose, "Jesus Christ, Ed's temper is shorter than he is…"

"You're telling me…" Ling responded.

Gluttony then ran up to Envy. The other homunculus sighed. "Good, looks like you didn't cause too much damage," he muttered, "Seriously, you're a pain to keep track of sometimes, you know that?"

Gluttony didn't respond to that comment, he simply pointed towards Rin. "Please let me eat that one! He's the one who took Lust from us!" he pleaded causing Rin to go stiff for a moment at being put on the spot, "There are two of them anyways. Can't I just have the mean one?"

"What, are you insane?!" Envy snapped, slapping him semi-lightly on the back of his head, "Think for a second! Astaroth will feed you to his little abominations if you so much as bite the kid's finger off! You can't have him, or the Elrics. Got that?"

Gluttony fell silent; shrinking as he remembered Astaroth's threat.

Those words sent off alarm bells in Bon's head. "Astaroth?" Bon questioned, "As in the demon king? You're taking orders from the demon king of rot?" He knew they were facing off against powerful demons as Ed and Roy had told him, but he hadn't been made aware they would be up against a demon king. This made his stomach sink. The situation was worse than he had thought.

Envy turned to him, blinking in surprise at the human before he glared at him. "First of all, we aren't taking orders from him. He's our ally, not our boss," he snapped, "Secondly, how do you even know who that is? Just who the heck are you?" He looked the boy up and down, analyzing him. He could be one of the exorcists that came over, but he looked too young.

Bon narrowed his eye at the homunculus before standing a little straighter. "My name is Ryuji Suguro," he said, "Exorcist in training and heir to the Fukaku temple in Kyoto."

Envy blinked in surprise. "Wait a minute…" he said, "You're not even a real exorcist? You're just some newbie in training?" He then began laughing. "You're kidding me! And here we thought you guys were gonna be a threat!" he chuckled, "But really you're just some kid way in over his head! This is priceless!"

Suguro growled at him. "Don't you dare laugh at me!" he snapped, pulling out the gun and firing once.

Envy narrowly dodged it before smirking at him again. "Really? A gun? What did you think that was going to do, even if it hit me?" he sneered, "Face it. You'd stand no chance against one of us in a real fight. You have no alchemy. No powers. You're just another pathetic little bag of meat."

Bon's fists shook, although he knew Envy was right. He was there to stop demons but when it came to fighting the homunculus he was at a serious disadvantage compared to the others. He wasn't going to take that from the monster, however. He opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could say anything Ling piped up. "Don't you dare underestimate humans!" he snapped.

Envy stopped his laughter and glared at him. "You're the brat that crossed swords with Wrath, aren't you?" he observed.

"That's right," Ling said, "I am Ling Yao. Son of the emperor of Xing. Next head of the Yao clan and heir to-"

"Eat them," Envy suddenly interrupted, a bored and annoyed frown on his face as he patted Gluttony's head. Both boys eyes widened.

"SHIT!" Bon hissed before they ran like hell to get away from the large homunculus charging after them.

Rin and Ed froze for a moment as gluttony gave chase. "Hey!" Rin cried in anger as he turned towards the large homunculus, "Leave my friends alone!" He then swung his sword, sending a wave of fire hurdling towards the portly sin.

Envy's pupils shrunk in fear as he remembered when he had been burned by those flames. "Gluttony look out!" he shouted. The large homunculus turned in confusion before yelping and ducking. The flames rolled passed him before dissipating, missing him by a hair.

Ed then clapped his hands and touched the ground, creating a wall between the homunculus and the humans he had been chasing after. "Sorry, but those two are off the menu!" he growled transmuting his arm into a blade and attacking the homunculus. Alphonse and Rin also moved into gang up on gluttony.

The distressed homunculus found himself cornered, being able to do little more than dodge his attackers.

"Stop it! Go away!" he whined, swatting at them, "I'm not allowed to eat you!"

"We know," Rin said with a smirk as he swung at the tubby homunculus, nicking him in the process, "That's the point."

"Bon, Ling," Ed called over his shoulder, "Do you guys think you can handle Envy?"

Bon nodded and cocked his gun while Ling flipped his sword in his hand. They were both staring at the teenage looking homunculus. "You got it," Bon said. Envy glance between them before growling.

"Two against one," he hissed, "That's hardly fair. No matter. You're just puny humans anyways. It won't take much to squash you." With that he smirked and turned his hands into blades. He charged forward, dodging most of Bon's bullets as he did so.

….

When Shura arrived back at the house she immediately knew things had gone horribly wrong. She stood in front of the destroyed shack for a few moments, gaping at the humongous gaping hole in the side. What the hell had happened?! It looked like a tornado with teeth blew through. After a few more seconds she shook her head and groaned before summoning her sword. "This is what I get for leaving them alone!" She growled before pulling out a piece of summoning paper. As furious as she was, she was just as worried at the moment. Where were they? Riza and Roy's cars were both gone. Had they left? Or were they both destroyed in that freakish explosion or whatever the hell it was that happened? There was only one way to find out. She pricked her thumb ands spread the blood on the piece of paper.

"Naga! Come forth and aid me!" She cried into the air. Smoke swirled from the parchment and a giant white snake slithered out. Its forked tongue flickered in the air as it turned to her. "Naga, I need you to track down the Elrics," she said, "and hurry. Their lives could be on the line." If there was any trouble, most likely those boys would be at the center of it. The snake said nothing but turned around, flicking its tongue in the air to pick up a scent. Once it had, it let out a hiss and started slithering forward into the forest. Shura charged after it, all the while hoping the boys and everyone else were ok.

Xiao Mei peaked out from the back of the canvas back truck. The blonde girl had left her behind when she had been dropped off at the mansion. She bit her tiny lip as she watched the woman run away. She didn't like her but she didn't want to stay behind. She could sense something terrible in those woods. She did not want to be left alone where one of those things to get to her...and if that woman dies she'd be stuck out here! So against her better judgment, the little panda chased after the exorcist.


	52. Laugh to Scorn the Power of Man

"Are you crazy?" Yukio questioned, "You just finished fleeing from a monster with a black hole for a stomach and yet you're going to dig yourself further into this mess?" They had stopped at Roy's house so the man could change back into his military uniform. He planned on going back into work to speak with some officers about Bradley and hopefully gain some allies. "You do realize how dangerous this is, right?" he questioned, "Maybe you should wait a few days to figure this out more."

"Yukio," Roy said as he buttoned the chest fold of his uniform, "Do you remember what I said when Rin and I had that fight for his reassessment?"

Yukio blinked. "That 'the Fuhrer is off his rocker if was going to allow this'?" he offered with an amused yet slightly confused look. He knew it wasn't the right answer but he felt it applied well to this situation.

Roy blinked before chuckling slightly. "Well yes, I did say that in private," he said, turning towards his son, "I meant when I was fighting Rin. I told him about how you never want to give your opponent the opportunity to get back on their feet and plan around you. Strike quickly and you will end it quickly too." "We've almost waited too long. They've had plenty of time to recuperate from us capturing one of them, and are probably very suspicious of us," he explained, "We need to act fast before they have the opportunity to plan around us." "Besides," Roy said, now frowning, "Your brother is out there fighting that monster with the Elrics and two other boys. They're children, and yet they're fighting my battles…I can't just sit back and do nothing while that happens. I'm already a crappy enough father for leaving him there like that…I don't need to add cowardly to that title because I didn't act when I had the best opportunity to."

Yukio frowned. "You're not a crappy father," he insisted, "It was Rin's decision to stay behind, and when it comes to fighting homunculi, he's the one that stands the best chance of winning against them out of all of us."

"I know," Roy said, "If I thought he couldn't handle it, there was no way I was going to leave him behind. But that doesn't stop me from worrying and feeling a little bit guilty in the back of my mind. Looking after someone for over seven years does that to a person."

"Well, it was technically it was less for me because of Xing," Yukio said.

His father smiled at him before sighing. "Well, I suppose it's time to head out," he said as he grabbed his coat, "You need to get back on shift, don't you?"

Yukio blinked before he remembered. "Oh right," he said, "I technically never clocked out." With that the two got in the car where Riza was waiting for them. Their first stop was driving Yukio back to the hospital. As they did so, the car fell into silence. The tension in the car was thick. Roy glanced over his shoulder to his son in the back seat. He was scratching the back of his left hand through his gloves, while looking down with a worried expression. Roy furrowed his brow. "Yukio, are you alright?" he asked.

The boy looked up in surprise. "Hm?" he said, "Oh Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little worried is all."

"Things will be alright," Roy responded, "Just keep a level head. Whatever happens, we can handle." Yukio forced a smile and nodded in response. The car pulled up next to the hospital entrance. "Looks like this is your stop," he said.

Yukio nodded before opening the door and stepping out. "Good luck dad," he said, "Stay safe." The man smiled and nodded in return.

"You too," he responded. With that he rolled up the window. Yukio gripped his left hand as he watched the car drive away. His smile fell as it was replaced by a frown. As much as he wanted to keep cool and collected, he felt it was going to be near impossible to do so right now. Afterall, it wasn't just Rin and his dad that he had to worry about.

….

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The bullets tore through Envy's body, causing him to stumble and fall as he revived. The two humans had been faring decently against him, but Bon was starting to get worried. He was going to be running out of bullets here quickly. As Envy got up, he pulled the trigger again, only to receive a clicking noise. He cursed as he felt only one cartridge left in his pocket.

"What's the matter, little human?" Envy sneered, "Running out of arms?"

Bon growled. "Not yet," he said before looking over his shoulder, "Hey, Al! Toss me a bat, will ya?"

The suit turned to him before nodding and transmuting one out of the stone beneath them. He tossed the stone bat to bon who caught it mid air. "Alright!" He said with a smirk, swinging it around a few times, "Let's play ball!"

….

Shura followed the snake into the woods. It had moved past but she could keep up with it easily. However, keeping up wasn't what she was concerned with. She was far more concerned with whether the boys were ok. Whatever made that giant hole couldn't have been anything but extremely dangerous. She hoped she could make it there on time.

All of a sudden, the snake stopped dead in its tracks, lifting its head up in the air. Shura stopped behind it, confused. "What are you doing?" She questioned, "come on, let's keep moving! What, did you lose the scent?"

Her question was answered as she heard a chorus of low growls. She slowly turned to see dozens of pairs glowing red eyes staring at her from the shadows of the trees. The low rumbling of growls coming from them got louder as a few of the individual pairs decided to step into the clearing. The creatures looked like walking shadows, almost flat in appearance as they moved towards her. They looked like some kind of dog, but they were large and pitch black. She narrowed her eyes at them as she held her sword at the ready. "Great…" she thought, " Just what I needed right now: Grims." She then bit her thumb and rubbed the blood across the the length of the blade. "Devour the Seven Princesses, slay the Serpent!" She cried before her sword grew in length and opened up like a snake's mouth.

Xiao Mei had caught up at that exact moment. Her beady panda eyes widened as she saw and felt all the monsters hiding in the woods, glaring out at Shura. The woman was going to die. There was no other way this could end. All of a sudden the horde leapt at her. Dozens of shadowy figures towered over the human, about to come crashing down upon her in a wave. Xiao Mei was about to turn tail and run, but she stopped when she saw the woman leap at them. Letting out a cry with just one swing, she slashed through ten. They cried out in pain as their bodies disintegrated into smoke. Xiao Mei was frozen as she watched this, her tiny jaw hanging open. The woman slashed through the air again and slew five more of the shadow fiends. Another slash and seven more had lost their heads. She landed in a crouch before getting back up into a fighting stance, ready to take down the rest. The tiny panda started. She slayed twenty-two of the demons without even breaking a sweat! What was this woman?! Well, she knew what she wasn't: dead.

….

"Hrah!" Bon shouted as he swung the stone bat. Envy narrowly dodged it before crouching down and sweeping the boy's legs out from underneath him. As Bon fell, Ling leapt over him, sword held above his head as he brought it down upon Envy. As sword met flesh, Envy cried out. His arm fell to the ground with a thud.

"Damn it…" he hissed, clutching his wound as it healed and repaired, "Lucky shot...but let's see how good you do against this!" He smirked as he relinquished his healing arm as the other one turned into a snake and shot out at Ling, wrapping its way around his neck. Ling gagged as he gripped the serpentine appendage. It squeezed tightly around his neck, Envy chuckling as it did so. "Not so tough now, are you little worm?" he sneered, "You humans are so weak...face it! You can't compete with the likes of us."

"I beg to differ," Bon growled. All of a sudden Envy felt a spitting pain shoot up his leg as Bon smashed his shin. He cried out and loosened his grip as he fell to the ground. Ling used this opportunity to slice the arm off.

"Thanks," Ling said rubbing his neck and smiling at Bon.

Bon nodded back. "No problem."

"Damn it!" Envy shouted as he tried to force himself up, "No fair!"

"Dude, it's completely fair," Bon said, "You knew you were fighting the two of us from the beginning."

"And you weren't holding back," Ling said running forward, brandishing his weapon, "So neither will we!" Envy's eyes widened as the Xingese prince charged at him, ready to slice the homunculus' head off. Before he had the chance to, however, the shapeshifter quickly changed his form to that of Lan Fan, looking up at him pleadingly. The Prince froze in shock. Envy quickly took the opportunity to shift his fist and punch him in the stomach sending him flying back.

Envy chuckled as he got back up. "Stupid human," he laughed, "You always fall for the same tricks. It doesn't matter if you're young or old or only half human. Your emotions rule you, and so long as I'm like this, you won't be able to hurt m-" He was cut off as Bon's bat made contact with his skull, smashing it and leaving him dead on the ground, a look of surprise on his face as red lightning sparked around him. Ling looked on in shock from where he was picking himself up, mouth hanging open.

"Maybe he can't, but I can," Bon said, glaring down at him. He then turned towards Ling, noticing the state he was currently in. "Hey!" he said, running over to him to help him up, "You ok?" He gave the prince a worried look as he noticed to horrified and disgusted look on his face. "Ling are you alright? What's wrong?" he questioned.

"You...I…" he said before shuddering, "I think I'm going to be sick…" He clutched his stomach as he tried to stand up.

Bon winced. He forgot for a moment that not everyone had dealt with the horrors of demon hunting and become numb to gore. Blood was one thing, and he was sure Ling was very familiar with that, but gore was another beast entirely. Even when he had blown up gluttony, the prince's eyes had been closed for a good chunk of the time as he tended to rely on his chi sensing. On top of that...it couldn't have helped that the person whose skull he had just smashed had looked exactly like one of his closest companions. If that wasn't traumatizing, he couldn't tell what was. Bon scratched the back of his head. "Sorry…" he said as he held out a hand to help him up, "You ok?"

Ling nodded as he swallowed. "Yes...I think I'll be fine now…" he said. 'Although I can definitely see that image coming back to haunt me in my nightmares…' he thought silently. His eyes then widened as he caught a glimpse of movement. He turned to see Envy, arm now a blade, charging straight for Bon.

"Look out!" Ling cried. Bon turned just in time, swinging the bat as hard as he could. It hit Envy in the stomach. To everyone's surprise, the impact cracked the stone bat as it sent the homunculus tumbling back into a tree. As he made contact, the oak tree snapped under Envy's weight.

"I believe that is a home run," Bon said before turning to Ling, "Thanks for the warning."

"Any time," Ling said back before glancing at the bat, "How hard did you swing that thing?"

Bon looked it over curiously. "Not hard enough to do that on purpose...That homunculus must be made of tougher stuff than we thought if he cracked this…"

"Yeah…" Ling said, "Did you see the impact he made? I think there's a lot more to him than we know…"

"GRAAAAAH!" Envy snarled picking himself up, "That's it! I'm done with you pesky little mites! You wanna know what I'm like when I'm not holding back? Well here you go!" Red lightning suddenly sparked around the homunculus. He started to grow slightly and Bon and Ling moved into fighting stances, preparing for whatever the homunculus had in store. However, Envy stopped and reverted back to his usual form as a loud, unearthly howl tore through the night air. Everyone paused as they felt a chill run up their spines and a sense of dread overcome them, even Gluttony.

They all turned to see twelve pairs of glowing red eyes peering out at them from the forest. One of the figured slunk out of the darkened woods, revealing its own shadowy dog-like form. Bon felt his stomach sink slightly. Great, just what they needed: a pack of grims.

Envy, on the other hand was grinning ear to ear. "Well, looks like I've got back up now!" he said before turning to the humans, "Lucky me!" He hadn't been expecting Astaroth to send help for him, still it was not unappreciated.

Bon gave him a confused look. Wait...they were allied with Astaroth, right? Why would grims be helping the homunculi? They were the kin of Lucifer, not Astaroth…

He didn't have time to contemplate this as Envy spoke up again. "Ok boys! Go ahead and tear those two apart. But leave the other three-GAH!" he suddenly cried as one jumped on him and began trying to rip his arm off. Another went for his leg as well. Everyone but Bon looked shocked by this. "What the hell?!" Envy cried trying to shake them off as they tried to rip him apart. "What are you doing?! You're supposed to kill them! Not me! What is wrong with you?!" he snapped. They continued to not listen as one more tackled him, digging its teeth into his throat. However, the rest of the pack did move to attack the others, but they mostly seemed interested in the two homunculi and Al. A pair started approaching Ling and Bon, growling. Bon immediately pulled out his prayer beads and started chanting while Ling got his sword ready again for battle.

Meanwhile, the other seven headed for gluttony, Al, Ed, and Rin. The first one tried to latch onto Rin's arm but he dodged it and slashed it with his sword. The demon cried out as it was consumed by fire and disappeared into smoke. "Woah, that was close…" he said.

"Yeah," Ed responded, kicking one that had latched onto his automail leg and tried to drag him down at gluttony. It hit him in the face before joining the two others that were trying to rip apart the homunculi.

"Guys? A little help!" Al cried. The two boys turned to see two of the grims had latched onto the suit of armor and were now trying to get his chest plate off.

"Hey get off of him!" Ed cried as he tried to rip one off on his own, but couldn't do it. "Rin a little help?" he asked. Rin nodded picking up his sword.

"Wait!" Alphonse cried, "Your flames...back at the third lab I could feel them when they came near me it burned...what if that happens again?"

He blinked in surprise. "You're serious?" he said, to which the suit nodded. Rin winced. "Ok sorry," he said before sheathing his sword and cracking his knuckles, "Looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way. He then began trying to tug one of the shadow dogs. It became distracted by Rins attack, struggling against him, but refused to budge. Gluttony was faring no better, if not worse. The demon dogs were unrelenting as they tried to tear him apart. It was good that he could regenerate so quickly, otherwise he would be minced meat right now. He swatted at them wildly as they tugged and tore at him. "No!" he cried, "Stop it! Don't eat me!" He couldn't see where he was going as one covered his face as it chewed on his skull. He swung his body around wildly to shake them but only became more and more frustrated as he found he couldn.t

Envy was also pretty bad off, though he was at least able to fight back. Once he had torn the one on his throat off, he was able to get up and keep them off of him. However, he was barely getting an attack in otherwise. He didn't get why they were acting like this. They were allied with demons, right?

All of a sudden, the dogs whimpered and cried out as Bon recited, "Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you!" The three demon dogs suddenly disappeared into smoke. Envy turned to see the grims fighting Ling and the kid had done the same. 'Well, that was convenient,' he thought before he got up and rushed at the two humans.

It had also been a lucky break for Gluttony and the three alchemists, because although the demons had not died like the one's Ling, Bon, or envy faced due to distance, but it had weakened them, causing them to fall off of Al, and Rin and Ed to stumble back from the recoil of their own force. They fell back, dogs still in hand. But they had squirmed out of their arms to join the three that had tried to attack gluttony but had fallen off themselves. The five approached the homunculus carefully, causing him to back up.

"No! Get away! Get away or I'll eat you!" he warned. The demons paid him no heed as the continued to move forward. And so, Gluttony did as he had promised them. He activated his black hole of a gate and attempted to suck them inside, but they leaped out of the way and reformed.

Envy and the two humans had gone back to fighting each other, but stopped when they hear the sound of the air violently being whipped around into a vortex. They all looked up to see gluttony trying to eat the dogs and absorbing anything in his path. The three alchemists had to dodge the homunculus as sucked up everything in his path. Bon, Ling, and Envy all started to panic. "ED! RIN! ALPHONSE!" Ling called, running up the hill to protect them.

"Gluttony stop! What do you think you're doing?!" Envy cried, following the prince.

"Leave them alone!" Bon hurried after them.

The three ran as fast as they could to get up the hill, however, it was too late for them to stop Gluttony. Ed and Rin had already gotten caught in the blast, as did Alphonse's arm along with the pesky hounds. However, they did make it up the hill just in time to be sucked in along with.

"BROTHER!" Alphonse cried in distress. They all screamed as they were dragged through the void into gluttony's bottomless pit of a stomach, but everything fell silent when gluttony stopped and he and Al stood frozen in horror as they contemplated what had just happened.

….

Mustang was inwardly terrified as he had been lead to the Fuhrer's office. He cursed at himself for his boldness. Yukio was right, he should have waited longer. Now he was in the pit of hell with no way out. And with every second he stayed there, the darker and worse it got.

The homunculi had finally had enough with his meddling and now had decided he needed to be punished. Their method? Isolation. They were splitting apart his whole team, leaving him utterly defenseless and unable to do anything. Roy didn't know how things could get much worse…

"Oh, and I thought you might like to know…" Wrath continued. Roy looked up at him to glare at him in rage. "There's one more transfer you should know of, just so you know exactly where you stand now."

Roy gave him a confused look. Who? Who could possibly be left to take from him? The Fuhrer turned to him with a smile as he handed him a transfer order he had signed. Roy looked it over, heart stopping as he saw the name on the order. No...Please no...

….

When Yukio had first gotten to the hospital, he spent half an hour explaining to his superiors where he had gone and who he had treated. He changed most of the important details, like his patient's name. In fact, most of the story was fabricated. He ended up telling them that a girl had gotten stabbed by a thug and he had to stitch it up and give her an IV. When he was done, he had briskly walked to his office and shut the door behind him after he entered. He sighed as he leaned against it. Today had been emotionally exhausting to say the least. But now he was finally alone. He only had one thing left to do.

Yukio locked the door to his office before walking over to his drawer and pulling out a canister of holy water and a pitcher. He poured out the holy water into the pitcher. He bit his lip as he stared at it before glancing down at his left hand. He hoped this would work this time. He was starting to feel desperate. He pulled the glove off his left hand and grimaced at the black splotch on the back of it. It had grown by a quarter of a centimeter in diameter. That couldn't be good. Immediately he shoved his hand inside the pitcher of holy water. He hissed as his hand felt like it was burning as it entered the water but gripped the table and held it there for several minutes.

After he couldn't stand the burning sensation for much longer, he pulled his hand out to examine it, hoping the spot to be gone, but to his dismay it was still there, mocking him. It hadn't even shrunk in size. Yukio sighed in defeat before he slumped into his office chair. This thing had shown up the day before Rin returned to central. It had been too large and dark to be another mole so he had been worried it was a cancerous tumor of some kind, but little did he know it was something much worse. He had only found that out, however, after he had tried to remove it using his alkahestry. Removing tumors was actually a great skill he had learned in Xing and he had already saved a few lives by removing a few before they became malignant here in Amestris. However, for some reason it didn't work this time. No matter how hard he tried, it would not go away! He had been utterly baffled and terrified by this. What was going on? What was this strange growth? He soon found out as he accidentally spilled holy water on his hand, causing his hand to burn and the spot to seemingly disappear, that it was not cancerous but demonic in origin.

It had sent him into a panic. He thought he was completely human. However, he kept it to himself. It was gone after all, right? No need to bother anyone with it...Or so he thought. The next day it had come back. He treated it again the same way, trying to soak it longer this time, and once again that seemed to work, but as time went on it became less and less effective. He had thought about going to his dad for help, but then things started getting crazy again and he was unable to do so. And now...It appeared nothing could stop this...The holy water hadn't even worked this time. Not even a little. Yukio was extremely worried. What was going to happen to him. Would he just be like his brother Rin? Or would he completely lose control, becoming a full demon? Should he tell Roy or try to talk to Shura or Mephisto about it?

He didn't have time to think about this more as there was a sudden knock at the door. Yukio looked up in confusion. Who could that be? He got up, pulled his gloves back, dumped out the holy water, and went to unlock the door. When he opened it, he found an unfamiliar military officer standing there before him.

"Um...Can I help you, Sir?" he asked.

"You're Yukio Mustang, correct?" the man asked.

The boy frowned but nodded. "Yes is there something that you need?" the teen asked.

The man simply pulled out a file and handed it to him. Yukio looked at it curiously before opening the manila folder and reading the contents. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw. "Y-you've got to be kidding me!" he cried, "Please, there has to be some kind of mistake here!"

"Sorry, son," the man said, "These orders come straight from the Fuhrer. You're to be transferred to Fort Briggs effective immediately."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys all probably hate me now, don't you? Well, I can't say I don't deserve it. Sorry I haven't gotten anything done sooner. I've been extremely busy with school work, plus I ended up posting a ton of stuff for FMA Villains week on tumblr. I've also been working on some oneshots for a few AUs for FMA like a 2003 AU where Hohenheim didn't abandon Envy and one where Dolcetto lives and becomes a member of Ling's Royal guard. Feel free to check them out. i won't be posting much for a while so hopeully they tide you over.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for all the comments and kudos. I hope you enkoyed this chapter, and please, tellme what you think!


	53. Stain the Seas Scarlet

Crickets chirped when Breda's phone went off. He groaned as he pulled himself from his bed, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Who the heck could that be? He checked his clock. It was past midnight, for Pete's sake! As the phone continued to ring he grumbled and sighed as he got up. Whatever this was better be important.

He lumbered over to the phone in the hall, accidentally stubbing his toe on the doorframe in the process.

When he finally made it over to it, he caught it on the last ring as he brought the phone to his ear. "What?" He grumbled.

"Breda, It's me, Hughes," he said.

The man on the other end looked at his phone in confusion before speaking again. "Maes? Why are you calling?" He questioned, "Did something happen to Roy?"

"I don't know, but there is something really weird going on," he said, "That Shura woman stopped by your house to drop off Konekomaru, right?"

Breda nodded as he remembered the event. "Yeah, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Well did she come back and drop off a second kid with you?" Hughes questioned.

Breda gave a confused look. "No, why?" he asked, "That wasn't part of the plan, I don't think."

Hughes sighed. "I know, but I hoped she had," he explained, "She was supposed to drop off two boys with me, but she didn't drop off the second one. She said she needed his help with something and that she would be dropping him off later, but that never happened. I was hoping there was just a change in plans that I wasn't told about. I've already called Armstrong and he hasn't seen her again either."

Breda frowned. "Have you tried calling the colonel or Hawkeye?" he asked.

"Yes, but neither have picked up," he responded, "I'm worried something really bad might have happened…"

Breda sighed before running a hand through his hair. "Well, you know about that whole catching the homunculus thing. Maybe the kid is just helping keep watch over it," he said, "or maybe they just decided it would be too much trouble to get him to your place and he's just staying with Mustang or whatever for the night."

Hughes hummed in thought. "I suppose that makes sense…" he said, "But just in case, make sure you phone is near you incase you get a call from the colonel or someone. For some reason I can't shake the feeling that something's off about this whole situation."

Breda shrugged. "Fine," he said, "Have a goodnight Hughes. Make sure you get some sleep before tomorrow. I don't think your superiors would appreciate you acting like a zombie in the office."

Hughes gave a huff of amusement. "Fine. Have a good night Breda." With that, Hughes hung up and Breda yawned before heading back to bed.

...

Bon groaned as he opened his eyes. It was dark. Pitch black almost. Where was he? The last thing he remembered doing was fighting Envy before those grims showed up he got sucked into stomach. He sat up. Was he dead? Was this hell? It certainly wasn't heaven as it stank of blood and decay. And he could seem some fire burning somewhere in the distance. He brought a hand to his chest as his brow knit together in panic. How did he end up in hell?! What had he done to deserve this? Well he supposed that agreeing to protect the son of Satan would definitely

be a good reason… But still if he was really dead, what was going to happen to his family, his friends?

All of a sudden, he realized he still felt a beating in his chest. He blinked for a moment as he processed this before sighing in relief. Well at least he knew he wasn't dead. But then where was he? Was this really gluttony's stomach? He picked himself up off the surface of the stone slab he had found himself transported onto and tried to get a good look at his surroundings. He was standing on what looked like some kind of broken building. He saw several more stone fragments sticking out of a red surface set against an inky black void. As he looked around, he noticed that the fragments became smaller and smaller until the reached a vanishing point. Just how big was this place?! How did it all fit inside this guy?! He was starting to wonder if Gluttony's stomach wasn't just a figurative black hole, but a literal one. He was also mildly curious as to what the red surface was actually made of. The structures seemed to stick out of it as if they were growing out of it. However, as he saw a ripple roll over the surface of it, he quickly realized what it most likely was and immediately regretted his inquiry. He sighed as he tried to avert his gaze from it, only to find his eye being drawn to a particular spot in the ocean of blood. His eyes widened as he saw two twinkling spots of bright blue amidst the red. One was much bigger than the other, and he quickly realized what they were.

He quickly scrambled down from the platform as he went to retrieve the half demon. He couldn't leave him there like that. For all he knew he could have drowned in that ocean of blood. "RIN!" he called, hoping for a response as he began wading into the red liquid. He shuddered as it first sank into his shoes and lapped against his leg. He had to keep himself from throwing up, realizing full well that all this blood was most likely human. "Just pretend it's something else," he told himself, "It's just strawberry syrup, or ketchup, or hot sauce…" He let out a calming breath as he strode forward, forcing himself to press on through the mess towards his friend.

The blue became brighter as he got closer and he was relieved to find that Rin was half floating in the red liquid, he was on his back so hadn't managed to accidentally drown. That would have been a fun one to explain to the kid's dad… "Yeah sorry, your son died on me, but don't worry, he didn't get hurt. He just accidently drown in an ocean of human blood."

When he got close, he saw Rin's sword was stuck in the ground and his red case containing the sheath was floating next to him. Bon grimaced. That couldn't be good for it. He pulled it and the sheath from the bloody water after slinging Rin over his shoulder. He huffed as he dragged him to "shore". Jeeze! How heavy was this guy? He ended up dumping him on the stone ruins before trying to make sure the sword was cleaned off. He knew swords could get damaged by leaving blood on them, and he could only imagine what would happen if a sword containing demon powers started corroding. So he ended up removing his button up shirt and using it to wipe it off, leaving himself in his undershirt. After all, it was already ruined from having to carry Rin on his back.

Once he was almost finished, Rin started to stir. Rin groaned as he started to wake up. "Uhhn What happened?" He glanced around trying to figure out was going on, "Where am I?" He could see nothing but inky blackness for miles around.

"Good to see you're awake," Bon said, slightly relieved.

"Bon?" The teen questioned blearily, turning towards him. His eyes suddenly widened as he saw Bon's arms, legs, and the back of his t-shirt were covered in blood. "GAH! Why are you covered in blood?!" He cried before looking down at himself and jumping to his feet, "AH! Why am I covered in blood?! WHY IS THERE SO MUCH BLOOD?!"

Bon sighed. "Because I had to drag you out of a literal lake of it," he said, gesturing to the red liquid surrounding their little island.

Rin backed up in surprise, cursing as he did so. "What the heck?! Why is there a lake of blood?"he questioned, "What the hell is this place?!" Rin desperately tried to remember what had happened before he had gotten knocked out. His eyes widened as he remembered the fight with gluttony and how they had gotten sucked into him. "HOLY CRAP! Are we dead?!" he cried, "Is this hell?! Wait, why are you in hell?"

"We're not in hell, we're-" Bon started before stopping, "Wait, what did you say? Why am I in hell?"

"Well yeah," Rin said, "I mean I get why I'm here, son of Satan and all, but you seem like a decent guy. Plus you're an exorcist, so that's gotta give you some heavenly perks or whatever. How could you end up in hell?"

Bon blinked in surprise. He supposed he should be flattered by his words but he just frowned. "Ok…" he said, "Well for starters, the main reason why is because we're not in hell. At least not literally." Bon then looked over at their surroundings in disgust. "Though I can see how you would confuse the two…"

"Wait, we're not?" Rin questioned, "How can you tell?"

"You're still breathing aren't you?" Bon said, "Wouldn't need air if you were just a soul. Plus, wouldn't you be in full demon mode without your body?"

"Fair point," Rin said, scratching the back of his head in thought, "So if we really are still alive then where the hell are we? Er, where the NOT-hell are we?"

He smirked a little and Bon glared at his pun. "Well you remember how lard ass sucked us up, right?"

"Yeah...wait," Rin said frowning, "Are you saying we're inside the guy?! How is that possible? This place is huge!"

"I think I might have a theory," Bon said, "That gluttony guy might have some kind of black hole inside him or maybe a wormhole of some kind spitting stuff out somewhere else." "It would explain the crazy vacuum powers he has," he noted.

"I guess that makes sense…" Rin said before looking around, "Hey, wait…" He then turned to Bon with a look of concern on his face. "Where's Ling and Ed? Are they alright?" he questioned.

"I have no clue," the Japanese teen responded, "But if we get moving, we can probably find them. It's better than just sitting around in the dark, anyways…" He picked up a piece of driftwood and turned to Rin. "Think you can give us a light?" he asked. Rin pulled his gloves out of his front pocket, happy to find they were still mostly dry. Dry enough that they could still work anyways. He pulled one on and snapped his fingers, catching it on fire with his blue flames. He then gathered up his things before following the exorcist in training out into the ocean of blood to look for his friends.

….

Alphonse and Gluttony both stood there in shock at what had just happened. Not only were the demons gone, but so was Ling, Bon, Envy, his brother, and Rin. The only evidence that they were ever there was Envy's slowly disintegrating leg that had been left behind.

Alphonse stood there, sputtering in fear and confusion. "Wha-What did you do?!" He cried, "Spit them out! Spit them out now!"

"I can't!" Gluttony admitted apologetically, "I swallowed them…"

Alphonse felt his metaphorical heart take a plunge from fear. They were gone. Just gone! In a moment, his brother, Rin, and his other friends had been taken from him just like that, and it appeared that there was nothing they could do. Alphonse felt as hollow as his suit actually was as he slumped to the ground. He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry so badly right now! He had lost the people closest to him in an instant and there was nothing he could do! He felt like it was his fault. If he had just moved faster, maybe his brother would still be here. Or he could have gotten sucked in with them. He didn't know what was a worse fate, being stuck out here or inside Gluttony's belly.

He was broken out of his wallowing as all of a sudden a loud hiss sounded from the woods. The two turned to see a large white snake slither out from the trees and encircle the clearing they were in. Alphonse stood up, backing away from the monstrous serpent as it fenced them in. Gluttony did the same, utterly confused by the situation. Once it had finished, it reared up and towered over them, it's tongue flicking in and out before it moved closer to suit of armor to inspect him. The suit backed up, scared and confused by the creature. What was this thing?! What was it doing here?! He started to move into a fighting position before it suddenly moved away and hissed loudly in the direction of the trees.

The boy in the suit over armor was utterly perplexed by the situation until he saw Shura burst forth from the underbrush. There were a few cuts on her face and places where here clothing had snagged against branches, but otherwise she looked unscathed. She scanned the area, worry and confusion in her eyes before she turned and glared at Gluttony. "Where are they?" she demanded, stalking up to him, "Where are Edward and Rin?"

There was venom in her eyes as she glared down at them. The homunculus shrunk away. "I...I swallowed them…." he admitted, twiddling his fingers.

Shura's eyes widened in horror. Her shoulders slumped as she looked upon him in shock. "What?!"she whispered, almost dropping her sword, "Y-you ate them?!" She felt her stomach twisted sickeningly as the homunculus nodded, lip quivering as he did so. She felt sick. They were gone. Those boys had been eaten alive by this...this monster. She clenched her fists, her hands shaking as rage filled her.

"Miss Shura?" Al said, stretching a hand out to her.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"she screamed as she tried to slash at Gluttony. Alphonse gasped and Gluttony squeaked as he rolled out of the way. The woman then tried to chase him down. The portly homunculus fled from her mad hacking and slashing as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

"WAIT! MISS SHURA!" Alphonse cried, grabbing her shoulder with his one good hand to stop her.

"Let go of me Alphonse!" she said, "I'll slice him open like the woodsmen to pull them out if I have to!" Gluttony yelped at this.

"That's not going to work!" Alphonse cried, "He didn't physically eat them. They aren't in his literal stomach. It's like he absorbed them somehow!"

She turned and glared daggers at him. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Show her, Gluttony," Alphonse asked, open up that thing on your stomach again...but please don't eat us!"

"Ok…" the homunculus said with a nod. His belly was suddenly engulfed in red lightning as his jaw lowered and teeth extended out from his torso to look like an open zipper. A single grey eye opened in the center of the black void.

Shura blinked in surprise. "Well that isn't terrifying…," she said, raising an eyebrow at it and folding her arms.

"It looks like the portal of truth," Alphonse explained, "If that's the case, brother and the others might just be displaced rather than dead."

"I don't know much about the portal of truth," she started, still examining Gluttony, "But I think I get your point. If he sucked them in through there, there might be a way of getting them out." She stroked her chin in annoyance. "And if that's the case…" she said with a sigh, "We can't kill him or we could risk losing the only possible way of getting them back if they're still alive." Dammit...why did this have to be so complicated?

"So you aren't going to hurt me?" Gluttony asked as he closed his portal up.

"Not unless you give us reason too, unfortunately," Shura huffed, "The question is, how do we pull them back out? Is there any expert that can help us with this portal stuff?"

Alphonse sighed. "I'm afraid I don't know anyone," he admitted, "I mean, aside from Mephisto, but I have no idea how to contact him."

"Me neither, I'm afraid," she said with a sigh. She scratched the back of her head. There had to be some way to fix this. They couldn't just leave the boys to whatever hell they had ended up in. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Gluttony shuffle slightly and play with his fingers.

"What, you got something to say, Tubs?" she demanded, "What are you waiting for? Spit it out!"

He flinched slightly at her tone but went ahead and spoke. "Well...Father might be able to help us," he said, looking down as he continued to play with his fingers.

The two blinked in confusion.

"Wait...did you say father?" Shura said, "Are you telling me you actually spawned from someone else? Wait, does this mean you have a mother too?"

"No, just Father," Gluttony clarified, "Father knows everything. He made me, and Envy, and Lust…" Gluttony pouted. "I miss Lust…" he mumbled. He seemed to get lost in contemplating his fallen sibling. The two humans stood around, expecting him to continue to continue.

Shura frowned, starting to get annoyed by his silence. She grabbed his attention again by clearing her throat. "So can you dad or whatever he is help us or not?" She questioned.

Gluttony blinked. "Father can do anything," he confirmed before hesitating, "But…"

"But what?" Shura questioned, folding her arms over her chest.

"...But Astaroth…" Gluttony said, looking down in fear, "He won't be happy….He'll be very, very angry and he'll try to hurt me…" Shura and Al blinked in surprise. The homunculus looked genuinely scared.

"Come on…" Shura said, moving towards him, trying to assure him, "It can't be that bad. I'm sure you'll be fine…"

"No!"he cried, flinching away from her, "He's going to turn me into food for his stinky pets! He told me so!"

Shura and Alphonse exchanged looks before Shura looked down. Shit...damn Astaroth...why did he have to complicate this whole mess? Still, this raised several questions. If the homunculi really were working with the demon king, then why were they so scared of him? Who was really in control of what was going on around here? And if it really was Astaroth pulling the strings, what was his goal in all this? Unfortunately, it didn't look like they would get any answers considering how Tubs wasn't going to go near the demon with a ten-foot pole.

Then Alphonse spoke up. "Don't worry," he said, "We won't let him hurt you."

The homunculus gave a curious look and Shura whipped around in surprise. "We're not?" she questioned.

"How?" Gluttony questioned.

"Well, Shura here is an exorcist," he explained, "She fights demons like Astaroth all the time. She can protect you from him."

Gluttony's eyes lit up and Shura gave Al an incredulous look. He expected her to do what now? "Really?" Gluttony chirped in delight before turning to Shura, "You can make sure Astaroth doesn't hurt me?" Shura glanced between Gluttony's earnest expression and Alphonse's some how pleading look. She didn't know how, but somehow that suit of armor managed to give her the best puppy dog eyes she had seen in years. "Ugh, fine," she grumbled, "Sure, Jumbo. I'll make sure you're safe. No demon is gonna hurt you under my watch."

A wide smile stretched across gluttony's face. He couldn't express how happy he'd been in that moment. This human was really really nice. Astaroth was so scary and yet she was willing to stand up to him! "Thank you!" he cried, suddenly slinging his arms around her in a bear hug. He hadn't felt this safe since Lust was still around. In fact there was something about this human that reminded him of her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Shura gasped as she was suddenly wrapped up in the homunculus's grip, dropping her sword in the process. She blinked in surprise as she was squeezed and lifted up by the stout creature. "HEY LET GO!" she cried trying to squirm out of his grip, and kicking her legs, "What do I look like, a giant teddy bear? Didn't this father guy ever tell you not to hug random strangers?!" However, Gluttony didn't seem to be listening. "Let go right now else! I'm warning you, blubber boy!" She snapped as she continued to try and wriggle free, "Alphonse, what are you doing standing around?! HELP ME DAMNIT!"

Alphonse chuckled before moving to free her. After he had convinced Gluttony to do so, he led them the way to his father's hide out, still holding Shura's arm as he did so like a child leading a parent, much to her annoyance. Alphonse on the other hand was a bit happier with the situation. "Don't worry guys," he thought to himself, "Sit tight and we'll get you out of there as soon as we can."


	54. Hell is Murky

"I looked everywhere, but I still can't find her…" Mei announced as she made it back to their hideout.

Dolcetto gave her a pitying look. He was about to speak up when Yoki suddenly did. "Maybe she got eaten by a stray dog or something," he said with a shrug.

Mei clasped her hands to her mouth in horror. "E-eaten?!" she repeated. She then burst into tears.

Dolcetto glared at Yoki before stalking over to him and smacking him upside the head. "HEY!" the man cried, rubbing his head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Dolcetto snapped at him, "Couldn't you see she was already upset?! Why on Earth would you say something like that?!"

"I was joking!" he shouted.

"WELL IT WASN'T FUNNY!" Dolcetto barked back, causing the man to flinch. He then walked back over to the crying girl and knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I bet Xiao Mei wasn't actually eaten. She's as tough as you are, right? I doubt anything would have the guts to snap her up," he assured. She looked up at him, tears finally stopping as she nodded. "Yeah, I bet she's jsut hiding out in a cardboard box somewhere waiting for ya," he said, "Don't worry. We'll find the little guinea pig."

"Panda," she clarified. Dolcetto raised an eyebrow. "She's a panda bear. Not a guinea pig," she explained, "But she got a disease when she was little that kept her from growing all the way. I found her after her mother had abandoned her and took her into nurse her back to health. She looked so lost and helpless. I suppose I was drawn to her because she was like me. We've been together ever since, even crossing the desert together."

Dolcetto raised an eyebrow. "You? Helpless? I doubt that," he said.

"It was a crazy endeavor anyways," Yoki scoffed, "There's no such thing as immortality."

Dolcetto glared at him again and growled. He was about to speak again when all of a sudden Mei stood up and did so for him. "There is! There has to be!" she shouted, hope burning in her eyes, "It's the only way to save my clan. It's one of the weakest of all the clans. If I don't bring the secret...It could disappear." Both Scar and Dolcetto gave her pitying looks.

All of a sudden the man stood up and walked over to the chimera. "Come on," he said, "We have a few hours of darkness left. We can spend that time looking for it."

"How will we do that?!" Yoki questioned, "It's too dark to see anything out there!"

"Dolcetto," Scar said, turning to the chimera, "How good is your sense of smell?"

"I can still smell the tea Sir Stuffy spilled on himself this morning," he said. Yoki blushed furiously.

Scar nodded. "Mei, do you have anything we can use to track her down?" he said.

"I have her brush!" the girl said, "It should still have her fur on it." She pulled it out and gave it to Dolcetto.

The man sniffed it. "Yeah, that will do," he said. He then sniffed the air before frowning. "We'll have to go back to the train yard though," he explained, "I ain't getting nothing around here."

Scar nodded. "Come on then," he said beckoning the chimera to follow him, "We'll have to move quickly to make sure no one spots us."

...

"God this is disgusting…." Rin complained as he continued to trudge through the blood, "My shoes are gonna smell like blood forever!"

"Preaching to the choir here, buddy," Bon responded trying not to look down at the liquid they were wading through, "Though I suppose we should be thankful we haven't come across any solid organs yet."

"Please don't make me think about that…" Rin said. They continued to walk in silence for a little while longer until they spotted something moving in the distance. Two silhouettes actually, and it looked like one was attacking the other. "Crap, is one of those Envy?" Rin said.

"I don't know, let's find out," Bon said before the two rushed forward. When they did they saw both Edward and Ling standing there, Edward huffing with an annoyed look on his face.

"Hey what's going on over there?" Bon demanded, as they got closer, catching the two boy's attention.

"Bon? Rin?" Ed said as they both turned towards them.

"Hey are you two alright?" Rin called, as they got closer.

"Wait, you're both Ling and Ed, Right?" Bon asked, as they got closer.

"Don't worry we are. We actually just got finished confirming that," Ling explained.

"You didn't have to be a jerk about it…" Ed grumbled.

"Thats what the fighting we saw earlier was about?" Bon questioned, surprised as they both nodded.

"You called him short, didn't you?" Rin said with a smirk, "Yeah, that's definitely Ed then."

Ed gritted his teeth in response before realization dawned on him. "Hey, what about you two?" he responded, "How do we know one of you isn't Envy?"

"Because when I met Ling he thought I was some kind of spirit and tried to give me chocolate as an offering and so I thought he was hitting on me," Rin said.

Ling looked horrified and embarrassed at the same time While Ed snickered at the memory and Bon gave a confused look.

"Did you really have to bring that one up?!" Ling snapped at him.

"Wait, why did you give him an offering of chocolate?" Bon questioned, "Who gives an offering of chocolate to a spirit?!"

Ling blushed furiously. "NOT IMPORTANT!" he shouted, "W-what about you, huh?! How do we know you're not Envy, huh?!"

Bon gave them a deadpan look before pulling his iphone out of his pocket and raising an eyebrow. "This enough proof for ya?" he asked.

Ling gave a confused look while Rin and Ed relaxed. "Yeah alright, you're Bon," Ed said.

Ling turned to him, even more perplexed. "Wait, how does that little thing prove he isn't a homunculus?" he questioned.

"It's a long story. You wouldn't understand," Ed said, "Let's just say that Envy has no idea that thing even exists, let alone that Bon has one. Now we need to work on trying to figure out where the hell we are and how to get out of here."

"Well we know for sure it's not actually hell cause we're all still alive and I'm not covered in blue flames," Rin said, "I guess that's a start, right?"

"I suppose so," Ed said.

"I think the answer's pretty obvious," Bon said, "Fatso sucked us up like a vacuum."

Ed gave an incredulous look before Ling spoke up. "It makes sense to me, a little anyways," he said. "You can see the part of the house he ripped up. All the fire probably came from the Colonel," Ling said pointing out things with his torch, "And I believe that car belongs to one of the officers." He said, pointing to the vehicle half sticking out of the pool of blood.

"How is that possible?" Ed questioned, "He isn't a demon so he can't bend the rules of time and space. How can all this fit inside him?"

"I have a few theories…" Bon said with a sigh before sitting down on a stone, "First is that inside gluttony is a black hole, though that looks a little unlikely now."

Ling and Ed gave confused look. "A black hole?" Ed repeated, "What's a black hole?"

Bon blinked in surprise. "You're shitting me…" he said with a baffled and annoyed expression, "You have no idea what a black hole is? What is wrong with you people?! Kids learn about that in first grade!"

"Uh dude," Rin said, "1914."

Bon face palmed before sighing. "Oh right, you people probably barely have airplanes let alone started sending things up to study space," he grumbled.

Both boys that were native to the timeline looked shocked. "Wait, what do you mean sent things up into space?!" Ling questioned, "What country are you people from?! Who has managed to send things into space?!"

"Seriously, you were able to do what in your world?!" Ed questioned, "Just how advanced is that place?!"

"Wait, did you say 'your world'?" Ling suddenly turned on Ed before turning back to Bon, "What the heck do you mean by 'your world'?!"

Rin and Bon exchanged looks before sighing. "Yeah, we...kinda come from a parallel world…" Rin explained, glancing at his feet and rubbing the back of his head. Bon raised an eyebrow at him. So he was from their world after all...Mephisto must have brought him here to hide him.

"We?" Ling questioned.

"Bon and I," Rin explained, "But I was taken here when I was seven to be saved from persecution due to my roots. Bon just showed up a few weeks ago."

"I guess no one has told you, but our world is a place where humans and demons exist in the same place, causing problems for each other and such. There's no alchemy or anything like that, but it runs a little under a hundred years ahead of your time, so we're pretty far ahead," Bon clarified, "And before you ask, no, I can't tell you what happens in the future because my world is completely different. There's no Amestris or Xing there and people were born here that apparently weren't born in your universe like Buddha or Albert Einstein." He then paused before thinking again. "Well, they could have and might have if this was truly a parallel universe, but if they were, they didn't end up achieving the same notoriety as they did in ours. "

"Alright…" Ling said processing this, "I think I understand…"

"So what's this black hole thing you were talking about?" Ed asked, getting them back on topic.

"Well, essentially a black hole is what happens when a really big star burns out, though some scientists have theories about how to make one otherwise. It expands and goes supernova before collapsing in on itself, but it just doesn't stop. It keeps collapsing and taking anything and everything with it until it's so densely packed that it can be the size a golf ball but have the weight of a planet," He explained. Ed and Ling marveled at this thought.

"Really?" Ed questioned, "That kind of thing exists?"

Bon nodded. "And the gravitational force it has means anything and everything that gets too close would get sucked inside. Not even light can escape it," he explained.

Ling and Ed frowned. "Wait a minute," Ling said, "Are you saying we're trapped here forever then?"

"If this really is a black hole, then yes, but I'm having doubts," he answered, scratching the side of his face, "I don't know if there are big differences in physics here, but if we were in our world, a black hole would have been too heavy for Ling to lift." "And even if it was some how contained within gluttony, we should be dead right now," he explained, "if we weren't torn apart molecule by molecule getting sucked into a black hole, we should have been crushed by the gravitational force the minute we ended up inside it. So that answer is looking a little flimsy at the moment."

Ling and Rin breathed a sigh of relief, while Ed just looked angry. "THEN WHY DID YOU TELL US ABOUT IT?!" he snapped, "For a moment I thought we were going to be stuck here forever!"

"Because, like I said, I have no idea how the physics of this world works!" Bon snapped back, "You people have an entire field of science that doesn't exist in this world! Artificial humans don't exist in our world and there isn't a known way to have a tangible form of energy like a philosopher's stone. You can't make chimeras by combining two animals either without them dying! For all I know, Newton's laws have twenty different exceptions and atoms follow the plum pudding model instead of the orbital model!" Rin blinked at him in confusion, as did Ling. He sighed. "Don't ask…" he said, rubbing his left temple, "And besides, the other theory I have may not even be real." "Gluttony could have the entrance to a worm hole inside him, and we just got sucked through and spat out on the other side of the universe or something," he said, "But I have no idea if wormholes are even a real thing or just a work of fiction."

"Well, to be honest, I much prefer your wormhole theory," Ed said, "Do you think if we searched long enough, we might be able to find the wormhole entrance again?"

"It's possible," Bon said with a shrug.

"Alright, then let's get moving," Edward responded, beginning to walk away, "The sooner we can find a way out of here, the better."

Rin, Bon, and Ling complied. They began looking around trying to find some kind of exit. They searched high and low, desperately trying to find anyway out. They tried making a pillar to reach upwards, making a hole, running to find a wall of some kind, anything. Yet somehow they ended up back where they started.

"You're kidding me…" Rin said as he saw the car and the side of the house, "This is the third time we passed that!"

"How are we going in circles?!" Ling cried, "We ran straight!"

"Beats me," Bon said, "I feel like we're stuck in a horror movie…" Bon grumbled, waving his torch around. All of a sudden he saw something reflect the torchlight. He raised an eyebrow before running over to see what it was. However, he regretted it when he found out the truth. He nearly gagged as he saw part of Alphonse's suit arm lying on the ground. He had to keep himself from retching awful that must have been for the boy. He was out there, all alone with half his arm gone, probably bleeding out. He dared not pick it up to see what remained inside.

"Bon?" Edward called, "Bon what is it? What did you find?" The blond boy began running up to him.

Bon's mouth opened and closed as he looked from the severed arm to the brother. "...I-I...I don't think you want to know," he admitted quietly, blocking it from Ed's view. Fear pricked in Ed's heart for a moment. What did he mean by that? What could have happened that was too horrible for him to see?

"What are you talking about, let me see!" he demanded, fighting to shove the boy out of the way. Bon tried to stop him, but the short alchemist was quickly able to force him aside.

"Ed stop!" Bon cried, trying to reach out to stop him. However, it was too late as the teen had already knelt down and picked up the severed arm. Bon bit his lip as the others ran up behind him.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked as he and Ling sloshed through the blood over to them.

"I found Alphonse's arm…" Bon admitted, "I..it must have gotten torn off in the process of trying to grab one of us, Ed I'm sor-" He stopped as he glanced over to the older brother and noticed that for some reason, the boy was SMILING! Bon blinked in surprise. "Thank goodness, that means he's alright…" Ed sighed in relief.

Bon's jaw dropped. "Alright?! Alright?!" he cried, "HIS ARM'S BEEN TORN CLEAN OFF! HE'S PROBABLY BLEEDING OUT RIGHT NOW, HOW CAN HE BE ALRIGHT?!"

Edward, Rin, and Ling all froze as they realized that Bon was still unaware of Al's situation. They exchanged looks. Well. This was going to be an interesting discussion…

"Uh...Well, you see…" Rin started, scratching the back of his head, "He kinda...doesn't have a body…"

Bon blinked at him for a moment, processing what he just said. "I'm sorry, what," he said in a deadpan voice. He hadn't thought anything more could surprise him that day, but he found that he was completely wrong. "What do you mean he doesn't have a body?" Bon questioned in disbelief, voice slowly becoming angrier, "I've seen him with my own eyes! The armor can move around just as well as any person! How does he not have a body?!"

Ed sighed before showing him the inside of the armor arm. "Because there was never anything inside," he admitted, "His soul is bonded to the suit of armor."

Bon gaped. "You're telling me your brother is a ghost?" he questioned.

"No!" Ed snapped before rethinking, "Well...sort of. He didn't die. You can't bring a soul back from the dead."

"How?!" Bon questioned, anger clear in his voice, "How is that even possible?! How does one's soul just get stuck to a suit of armor?! Is there some mad man going sticking people's souls to metal? Who in his right mind would do that to a kid?!"

"Well kinda…" Rin muttered, though too quietly to hear.

Ed looked down. "...I did it," he admitted, "I bonded his soul the suit."

Bon stared at him in disbelief and shock. His mind was blank as he was once again affronted by this new information. His own brother. He did this to her own brother…It made him sick. "Why?" he questioned, fist shaking, "Just why? Why would you do that to him?! What is wrong with you?!"

"I did it to save his life!" Ed shouted back. He glared at Bon before his eyes became weary and he slumped to the ground. "It was all I could do...I couldn't think of anything else…" he admitted, "He was all I had left. I couldn't lose him too."

The void fell silent between the four teenage boys. Bon bit his lip a little. He didn't know how to respond to that. He had no idea how desperate the situation had been, but it must have been horrible if it caused him to take his soul out of his body. However the thought still terrified him. Knowing that someone was able to do that...a teenage boy no less...it was horrifying. Granted, it had already been explained to him what a philosopher's stone was back at the hideout, that humans had to be sacrificed to make one. That thought alone was going to plague his mind for a long time. But there was one that was far more prominent at the moment.

"What happened?" he asked. Rin winced And Ed looked up at him from where he was sitting on the ground. He stared at him for a long while, contemplating whether to tell him or not before giving in and doing so.

"Alright," he said, "I suppose there's no point in keeping it secret anymore...When we were kids we made a very stupid mistake. We...attempted human transmutation."

Bon looked confused while Ling raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, isn't that what's used to bring back dead people?" Ling asked.

Bon suddenly turned to Ling in alarm before looking back towards Ed. "Wait, are you saying you performed necromancy?!" he questioned.

"No!" Ed cried in offence, "Alchemy isn't magic, and you can't actually bring back the dead with it…" He then sighed. "But...we did try," he said, "We tried to bring back our mother. She had died a few years before and we couldn't handle it. We thought we could play god, but we were wrong…" "In trying to bring her back, we opened up the gate of truth," he continued before glaring at the ground, "But the white bastard doesn't like anyone stepping onto his territory, and so we paid a price for what we did." "I lost my leg," Ed said lifting his metal leg, "and Al...Well, Truth decided to take his whole body."

Bon swallowed as he felt his stomach sink at those words. "B-but what happened then? If he took his body, how were you able to attach his soul to a suit of armor?" He dared to ask.

"I used my blood to draw a seal on the suit and reopened the gate," he explained, "I ended up giving my arm to get him back, and every day since I've been working to get him back to the way he was."

"Oh…" the teenager said. He didn't know what else to say. He felt humbled by his presence. The boy had been through hell and back for his brother. Sure he messed up horribly. He had messed up probably worse than anyone he had ever known. It was hard not to feel some respect for what he had done to repent.

Ling frowned in pity for the alchemist. He had been told Alphonse was a soul attached to a suit of armor and that his brother was the one whom had sealed him to the armor to save him...but he hadn't know what else had happened.

"I'm sorry," Bon said, looking away, finally breaking the silence, "For...what happened to you."

Edward shrugged. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It was my own dumb mistake and I'm the one who's going to fix it now," he said before getting up and taking the arm with him, "Now let's get back to finding a way out of here so I can do just that." Bon and Rin nodded before heading out after back into the blood. Ling got up and headed after them but after a few minutes became more and more sluggish. Finally he collapsed. The three teenagers turned to him in alarm.

"Ling?" Rin called, "Ling, what's wrong?"

"Is he sick? Injured? What happened?" Bon questioned

"I-I don't think I can keep moving," Ling admitted, "I'm starving…"

Bon looked confused while Ed gave an exasperated expression. "Not this again…" Ed growled, "Come on Ling, get up!"

"Wait is this a common thing?" Bon asked, turning to Ed and Rin.

Rin shrugged but Ed nodded. "Ling stop messing around! We have to get out of here!" He said, "Don't make us leave you behind!"

Ling looked up at him for a moment, trying to move but couldn't. "Just go…" he said in defeat, "I don't have the energy to even get back up. I'm only going to drag you down."

Rin and Bon exchanged worried looks. "Come on Ling!" Rin called, "We have to keep moving. Don't you want to see Lan Fan again?" Ling frowned sadly but didn't respond.

Bon growled. "Seriously, man," he snapped, "You didn't get this far just to give up now did you?" Once again they received no response. Ed grimaced before huffing and marching over to the teenage prince. Ling looked surprise as the other boy slung his arm over his shoulder.

"Hey guys!" Ed called back, "I could use an hand over here!" Rin blinked before nodding and handing the torch to Bon before going over to help Ling up.

"What...are you doing?" Ling questioned.

"We've got people waiting for us out there, and so do you," Ed said, "You don't want to disappoint them now do you?"

Ling smiled at him as the pair helped him walk. "Thank you. Both of you," he then chuckled, "And here I thought you were still holding a grudge over me!"

Ed smirked. "Oh don't worry, I fully intend on making you pay for the whole dinner fiasco in Rush Valley."

Ling smiled. "Knew it…" he muttered. The group traveled a little ways farther before they reached another slab of land they could rest on. It was part of an old building, with a room still intact. "We should stop for now," Bon said, "We're gonna need to keep our strength up. If there's anything else alive in here, it's probably desperate enough to try and make a meal out of us."

"Fair enough," Ed said setting Ling down. He collapsed in a heap beside him as did Rin.

"I really hate this place…"Rin said, "Are you sure it isn't hell? It sure feels like it…"

"I feel like there would be a lot more demons and screams of suffering if it were really hell, so the answer is still no," Bon said.

"Maybe its a personal hell," Rin retorted.

"Well that would explain why you're here," Bon joked.

"HEY!" Rin shouted back, frowning. Their little argument was cut off however by a loud stomach growl.

"We know Ling, you're hungry," Ed huffed.

"Actually, that was me…" Rin admitted sheepishly. His stomach growled again for emphasis.

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty hungry too…" Bon agreed, scratching the back of his head. Ed put a hand to his own stomach as he suddenly became aware of the gnawing empty feeling in it. He bit his lip as he tried to think of what to do.

"Man...I wish I had brought something with me…" Rin said, "What are we going to do for food? We aren't gonna last long without it."

"Unless you're fine with drinking human blood, which I hope to God you aren't, I don't think there's anything we can eat," Bon said.

"Oh hell no!" Rin cried in offence, "What are you, crazy? No way am I doing that! That's disgusting! I maybe half demon, but I still have human standards."

"Well that's certainly a relief," Bon huffed in response.

"Hey wait," Ed said taking off his shoes and pour out all the liquid, "Leather goods are edible." he suggested.

Never in his life did Bon think he would be offered a shoe as food, or that he'd be at a point he'd be happy to do so. "Well it's not the strangest thing we could be eating," he noted.

"Thank god you wear leather boots…" Rin breathed.

Ed transmuted a pot before setting up an fire and getting some water. Rin, Bon, and Ling watched from the sidelines as he worked. All of a sudden, Ed turned on Rin. "Think you can do the honors?" he said, offering him the boots.

Rin blinked in surprise. "Wait what?" he balked, "Why are you asking me?! I don't know how to cook a shoe!"

"I'd figure you'd know better than me considering you're the only one of us who's a decent cook!" Ed argued back shoving them in Rin's chest.

"Yeah, with real food! Not footwear!" Rin retorted pushing them back, "There aren't any recipe books for stewed shoe, you know! Besides, you're the one who survived on an island for a month. You should know how to make things like this edible more than me!"

"Are you kidding me? Half the stuff we survived off of was charred meat and raw ingredients!" Ed admitted, "I'm not asking for a gourmet dinner, I just want it to be soft enough to actually be able to chew and swallow! You managed to make spaghetti in a coffee pot before and a grilled cheese with an iron and ironing board. I think you can handle softening a shoe."

"I DON'T HAVE ANY INGREDIENTS ASSHAT!" Rin shouted back.

"WILL SOMEONE JUST SHUT UP AND COOK THEM ALREADY?!" Bon finally interrupted, "Seriously, it's not going to get done at all if you keep fighting."

Rin frowned but took the shoes. "Fine…" he grumbled, "But Ed has to help me try to tenderize it. And if this bombs none of you can complain!"

…

The three other boys sat around the fire, waiting for the food to be done. Ed had transmitted them some more water from he could gather from the particles in the air so they could keep hydrated. They were all very quiet, still trying to recharge from the fight and after trudging through the red liquid.

Bon glanced over to Ed who was messing with the metal arm still in his hands. He seemed to be staring at it intently, as if something was bothering him. "Hey," he said, "You alright?"

Ed nodded. "Just worried about Alphonse…" he explained, "I'm glad he's safe, but he's got to be freaking out right now…" He frowned at the metal arm. "I just wish there was some way to contact him…." he muttered before his eyes lit up slightly. Bon gave a confused look as he suddenly got on his knees and held the arm above his head.

"AaaaaaAAAHHHH!" he cried, swinging it over his head, "CONVENIENTLY AWAKEN TELEPATHIC POWERS! ELRIC BROTHER TELEPATHYYYYYYY!"

Bon and Ling. Both stared him in utter shock and confusion before looking at each other. Ling mouthed "what the-?"at him questioningly while pointing to the golden haired boy and his strange display. Bon on the other hand felt perfectly comfortable voicing his thoughts. "What the crap are you doing?!" he questioned, cutting Ed off, "Has being in here for such a short time really driven you insane already?"

Ed stopped his strange movements. "No…" he said, "It's just...I thought…" "Ok this is really complicated," he said with a sigh, "But I discovered that due to our mistake in opening the gate, we sort of...bonded our souls together. I thought maybe I might be able to communicate with him through that bond. You know that whole concept of sibling telepathy, right?"

"Sibling telepathy is just a myth," Bon argued, "Soul bonding or otherwise."

"No way! It's totally real! That's just not how sibling telepathy works," Rin said, walking up to them with bowls of shoe soup, "first off, you have to be twins. Secondly, it's not like talking on a phone. It only work in two ways: One, when I get in trouble and Yukio always seems to know…"

…

Yukio sat in his chair, staring down at the paper in front of him, contemplating what he was going to do. He suddenly hissed as he felt a throbbing sensation in the back of his head. Yukio blinked before sighing and resting his head in his hands. He really hoped this really was just a random headache and not a sign that Rin had gotten into trouble again. He didn't know if he could take any more stress.

...

"And two, when Yukio gets a cold I always start sniffing," he finished.

"Oh really?" Bon said dryly as he took his bowl from him, "You sure that's not just a coincidence?"

"Dude, it happened even when he was in Xing," Rin said, "I'd start sniffling and then all of a sudden we'd get a call from him where he'd say that he had gotten the flu or something…"

"I don't suppose this trouble detection powers of his will let him know where you are so he can come find us," Ling said as he began eating his piece of shoe. It was tasteless, but at least it wasn't too chewy…

"Sorry. 'Fraid not," Rin said with an apoplectic shrug.

"Great…" Ed sighed as he ate. As he was finishing, he leaned back onto the ground, "Well, since no one is going to be coming for us for a while we should probably try to get some sleep…"

Bon glances at the portion of the building next to them. "Think there might be something in there we can use?" he asked, "Like drapes or something?"

"I can go check," Rin said leaving his empty bowl behind as ran up to the building. Ling watched him run inside before looking back down at his bowl, realizing there was nothing left. "I don't suppose there's any more, is there?" He asked.

Bon raised an eyebrow at him. "You seriously want MORE?" he said, "Don't tell me you actually enjoyed it! What are you, a goat?"

Ling frowned at him. "Of course not! It was disgusting," he responded, "But I'm still hungry, and if we're going to be stuck in here for a while I'm going to need to keep my strength up for as long as possible so I don't end up like before."

"Yeah, by the way, what was the deal with that?" Ed questioned, "The first time that happened you might have been faking, but this time you actually passed out. Why is that?"

Ling looked away in embarrassment. "It's...a medical issue…" he explained scratching his chin, "It's been a noticeable problem in the last three generations of my family or so. Many of my siblings and I have extremely high metabolisms so we end up completely collapsing if we go more than a few hours without eating, though my case is particularly bad…"

"Wait, so you didn't fake passing out on the side of the road? You were actually passed out?" Ed questioned in surprise.

"Can we please talk about something else?" Ling interjected, avoiding the question.

"Hey guys…" Rin called from inside the building, "I think I found something." He stepped out. He was frowning as he showed them a long piece of cloth with a familiar pattern on it of red stripes.

"That's Ishvalan, isn't it?" Ling said.

"Yeah," Ed noted bitterly, "Well isn't this just a lovely reminder. We're camping out on the remains of a battlefield…" He glared at the ground. This probably meant this Gluttony guy had been allowed to pick over the dead and eat whatever he wanted during the war. The thought both sickened him and filled him with rage.

"What do you mean battlefield?" Bon questioned, "Why does that pattern mean this is a battlefield?"

Ed and Rin blinked in surprise. "Wait, you didn't tell him about Ishval?" Rin questioned.

"I didn't realize how important it would be in the future," Ed responded, "And it's not a subject that can be integrated into a conversation easily if you haven't realized."

"Will someone please explain what you're talking about?" Bon asked.

Rin and Ed glance at each other. "Well, he's got as much of a right to know as either of us," Rin said with a shrug.

"Alright," Ed responded, "a little over a decade ago, Amestris annexed a nation called Ishval…"

….

Shura, Alphonse, and gluttony were staring over the cliff edge at the city in the distance. The couldn't take Shura's canvas back truck as Gluttony could not fit in the front seat. So they were traveling by foot. As sunlight reach over the horizon, they found out they were heading in the direction of back toward Central.

"Your father lives in Central?" Alphonse questioned.

"Yup!" The chubby homunculus responded.

"...Why was I expecting anything different…" Shura groaned, running a hand through her hair. Great. So the evil had been under their feet all along...well she supposed he could be standing above them, but whatever. She didn't have time to contemplate this subject as she was suddenly tugged along by the portly homunculi.

"HEY!" she snapped, "Slow down, tubs! I'm not gonna let you hold on to me if you're gonna drag me around like that!"

"Oops!" Gluttony responded, stopping and putting a finger in his mouth, "Ok then. We can walk slower." With that they began moving at more leisurely pace. Still, that didn't ease either the exoricst's nerves nor suit of armor's as they steadily got closer to meeting the one known as "Father".


	55. The green-eyed monster

Gluttony lead them through the streets of central as they got closer and closer to father’s lair, or at least they hoped they were. They were winding their way through so many streets, it was hard to tell where they were headed anymore! “Hey Tubs,” Shura finally spoke up, “You sure you know where we’re going?” She was STILL being dragged along by her arm, much to her annoyance. She wished she could shout at him to let go of her or maybe smack him, but she couldn’t risk upsetting the big lug and causing him to run off. She assumed he was the “innocent” one of the bunch based on how he acted, and thus was probably the most sensitive. He also wasn’t too smart, so he would probably follow his first instinct to run the second she started scared him like he had before when she had chased him.   
“Yup!” he chirped happily, “It’s this way!”   
She frowned at him. “That’s what you said when I asked the last 12 times where we were going!” she responded in exasperation. She then sighed before glancing over her shoulder at alphonse. He was still with them, but she noticed something black and white was now sitting on his shoulder. She raised an eyebrow. It was that tiny panda thing.  
“Alphonse, where the heck did you get that?!” she questioned.  
“Hm?” he perked up, “Oh! I found her in the woods when we were traveling through them.”  
“And you couldn’t have just left it behind?” she questioned, “This isn’t exactly the time to be picking up strays.” The panda glared at her Shura glared back.   
“Well there were demons out in the woods! I couldn’t leave her to them, so I took her with,” he argued.  
Shura rolled her eyes. “Whatever kid,” she said. She turned back around to face forward, but she couldn’t shake a feeling crawling up her spine. She knew this feeling very well. It felt like they were being watched. She glanced around slightly to see if she could spot anyone, but she wasn’t able too. She slowly turned her gaze forward and kept moving. It was probably just some demons this father guy had placed around the city to monitor it or something. That wasn’t a comforting thought, but it was probably the most likely.   
Dolcetto’s eyes had widened when he saw the flash of red hair from a distance. They had been trying to track down the panda. They had no luck at the train yard, losing the scent almost as soon as they found it. However, the girl insisted they couldn’t leave without her and despite their better judgment, Dolcetto and Scar could not say no. Yoki on the other hand protested quite a bit, even offering to buy the girl a cat to replace the panda(which Dolcetto was very much against for several reasons). Once they got to the streets, he stopped his complaining as to not make a scene. They spent most of the day ducking in and out of alleyways on the search for it but found nothing. About nine am, however, Dolcetto suddenly caught whiff of something. literally. It was faint and tinged with the smell of metal, but it was her. He had suddenly dashed down the hall as quickly as he could so he could track it down, the others confusedly trailing behind him.   
He only stopped when he saw that flash of hair tinged with yellow on the ends. Alarm bells rang in his head as he caught the smell of fruit punch, snakeskin, alcohol, and coconut moisturizer in the air. He remembered that scent from the fight at the train station. It was the same scent that sword fighting girl had all over her. He took a step back before peaking around the corner to see if he was right, and unfortunately, he was. The woman with the long, bright red hair was walking down the alley with the suit of armor, Xiao Mei on its shoulder….and the homunculus?! What the heck were they doing with that thing?! He swore they had been fighting it when it had shown up….Well, it was mostly just that random other Xingese kid that had been fighting it. Did that mean they were in league with the homunculi? If they were, this could end very badly for them.   
“Mr. Dolcetto? What’s wrong?” Mei called, running up to him.  
“Yes…” Yoki said huffing, “Why did you have to run off like that?! Do we need to get a lead for you or something?” Scar was right behind him, coming to a halt as the man finished his sentence.   
Dolcetto rolled his eyes at him but didn’t respond. “See for yourself,” he growled, moving aside. The three looked around the corner and were shocked with what they saw. “That suit of armor and that lady!” Mei hissed in distress, “they took Xiao Mei! Those monsters!”  
Scar frowned at what he saw. “What are they doing with that homunculus?” He wondered aloud.  
“I don’t know but it can’t be good…” Dolcetto said. All of a sudden, the woman turned and looked around behind here. The four ducked behind the corner before she saw them, but Scar continued to watch her from where she couldn’t quite see them. As he did so, he blinked in surprise. Her eyes looked red from this angle. Were they always red? As she looked away he blinked and shook his head. No...it must have been a trick of the light. He was a good distance from her, after all. As they walked away and disappeared around the corner, Scar stepped out. “Come on,” he said, “We should figure out what’s going on here. Whatever this is, can’t be good.”  
…  
Bon’s eyes were wide the entire time he listened to Ed and Rin talk about what happened in Ishval. Every word made his stomach twist sickeningly. He couldn’t believe it. Within the last decade, Ed’s homeland had committed mass genocide against another race and it looked like the homunculi were involved. He felt a burning anger in the pit of his stomach over all of this. How could they do that? How could they just destroy an entire civilization like that? Those innocent people… Even if he wasn’t a homunculus, he still wouldn’t consider King Bradley anything less than a monster.  
He growled as he realized how familiar this whole situation was. “No wonder they call him Further…” he muttered.   
“Huh?” Ed questioned at the odd statement.  
“Nothing…” Bon responded, “It’s just...that’s horrifying…” His eyes suddenly widened as a thought came to mind. “Wait, you weren’t involved in that, where you?!” he questioned.  
“What? No!” Rin responded, “The war ended before Ed and I were even seven.”  
Bon nodded. “...But what about the Colonel and the others?” He questioned.  
Rin looked away uncomfortably. Edward sighed before speaking. “They did fight in the war unfortunately, and had to kill a lot of innocent people in the process,” Ed explained, “But they didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, and to this day I know they regret everything that happened there…”   
“My dad wants to become Fuhrer,” Rin spoke up, “In hopes that he can fix things himself.”  
Bon turned to look at him. He didn’t know quite what to say to that, so he simply nodded. Just because the man wanted to help and repent, doesn’t make what he did any better. Still the colonel was deep down a good person. He wouldn’t be trying to repent if he wasn’t. “So...I suppose this is why Scar hates state alchemists, huh?” he questioned.   
Rin and Ed both looked away before nodding. A long silence followed this. None of the four really knew what to say. Ling had been sitting silently listening, not really getting involved in the conversation. Then, all of a sudden, he sensed something approaching. He stood up and turned in the direction of it.   
The three others looked to him in surprise. “Ling? Is something wrong?” Ed asked.  
“It appears we have company,” he answered in a low voice.   
All of a sudden, Rin heard a distant splashing. He stood up, sword at the ready as he felt something dark approaching.   
“Is it that homunculus?” Bon asked, “Did he get swallowed with us too?”  
“No…” Ling responded, “I think it's one of those demon dogs.”  
Bon nodded as he stood up and grabbed his prayer beads. Ed followed suit, transmuting his arm into a blade. They all stood ready for a fight as the splashing became louder. However, when the dog came into view, it ran straight past them and off further into the ocean of blood.  
The four teens were thrown off in surprise before exchanging confused looks. “It...didn’t attack us?” Ed questioned.   
“I guess not…” Ling said, “But why?”  
Rin smirked. “Hey! Maybe it was scared of my me!” he joked.  
“Or maybe…” Bon started, taking a step forward into the ocean of blood, “It’s looking for a way out.” “Come on,” he said, “This demon might be sniffing out an exit. Demons can find all sorts of bridges between worlds. If we follow it, we might be able to get out of here.” The three other nodded before following after him.   
…  
The four tracked the demon down using Ling’s chi sensing abilities. It only took them a few minutes to catch up, but when they did, they were both disappointed and surprised by what they found. Instead of finding an exit, they found Envy being attacked by three of the demon dogs instead. Envy thrashed about, trying to shake them off of him. He managed to put up a good fight, dodging them and throwing them against the different stone structures and fragments jutting out from the pool of blood. However, the homunculus was starting to waver in his struggle as the grims attempted to coordinate themselves.   
“Jeeze, they must really have something against him,” Rin noted, scratching the back of his head.  
“Bon?” Ed said glancing from the teen to the artificial human. The exwire nodded before raising his prayer beads.  
“Wait, what are you doing?” Ling hissed, “Why are you helping him? He tried to kill us!”   
“Yeah, but he’s also the one who probably knows the most about this place, so if we want to get out of here, keeping him alive is the least we can do!” Suguro argued. He then began calling out his prayer, loud enough for the demon dogs to hear.  
“Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes by day,” the boy called out. The dogs stopped in trying to tear apart the homunculus and began growling at him. He looked surprised as they broke away from him to charge in the direction of the voice. Envy looked up in surprise to see that it was the pipsqueak and his little entourage helping him. Envy furrowed his brow. What the heck were they doing? Why were they helping him?   
“Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you,” Bon proclaimed as the demons charged towards him, “these evils will not touch you!” With those words, the demons exploded into smoke mid leap.  
Ed whistled and Rin looked on in awe. “Shit, that was bad ass!” Rin breathed. Bon smirked at him at that.   
“Kind of wish I could have seen what happened…” Ling muttered.   
A splashing noise broke the silence as Envy tried to get up while still healing. Ed and the others glanced at each other before Bon shrugged and went over to the homunculus. He roughly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Envy glared at him before swatting his hand away. “Get off!” he snapped, “I don’t need the help of a human.”  
“Oh really? You certainly looked like you needed it earlier,” he noted, raising an eyebrow and smirking at the homunculus, “After all, those dogs certainly weren’t jumping on you cause they wanted to lick your face.”  
Envy growled at him and rounded on him. “Shut up, you worm!” he snapped, “I am perfectly capable of handling myself in a fight, even against a demon!” His eyes then narrowed. “You wouldn’t be laughing if they were trying to tear you apart…” he hissed.  
“Yeah, speaking of which,” Ling interjected, “Why didn’t they attack us? They didn’t in the forest, and one ran past us here. Besides, aren’t the homunculi supposed to be allied with the demons?”  
“I think I know why, actually,” Bon said, “But just to be sure, all homunculi have a philosopher’s stone at their core, right? Those things made of soul power?” They had to explained what a philosopher’s stone was to him back in the shack. He had been disgusted at the time, but still accepted it as a reality he could not change. It was like the souls stuck inside a ghost train. He could pity them, but there was nothing he could do.   
Envy smirked at him. “That’s right!” he said, folding his arms, “It’s what makes us so powerful, immortal even. One stone can contain thousands of souls. you humans could never match up to-”  
“Yeah that’s nice, shut up,” Bon said, causing Envy to give him an offended look, “Anyways, because you literally have thousands of human lives trapped inside you, that makes you more of a target.”  
The group looked surprised. “Excuse me?!” Envy questioned.  
“Yeah, why does having a philosopher's stone make Envy a target?” Rin asked.  
“Well, you see, Grims are part of the reaper family of demons. Specifically part of the class that feeds off of human souls,” he explained, “Usually, they just hide on the sides of dark paths or graveyards and just pick off any wayward traveler they come across and devour their spirit, but Envy here has as he said ‘thousands of souls’ in one body.” “Basically, he’s an all you can eat buffet while we’re little more than table scraps by comparison,” Bon explained jabbing a thumb at the now startled homunculus. The rest of the group also looked surprised.  
“W-what?!” Envy cried, horrified by this revelation, “Y-you can’t be serious!”  
“I’m completely serious. There are plenty of demons that eat human souls,” he said, “Do you need me to pull out the demon handbook to prove it?” It was probably also the reason why they had targeted Alphonse too, now that he thought about it. He was easy pickings considering the fact that one lick to his seal would be enough to release him, but he didn’t feel like that needed to be mentioned, especially in front of Ed.   
“But I thought the demons were allies with them?” Ed asked, “Why would they be trying to eat him if they were allies?”  
“They aren’t their allies,” Bon stated simply, “First of all, those particular demons that were attacking you aren’t commanded by Astaroth, the demon you’re working with. They’re kin of a different demon king, namely Lucifer.” “And more importantly,” he continued, “demons aren’t on anyone's side. They’re on their own side. They don’t make friends or anything like that. They don’t have a sense of loyalty.”  
“Hey!” Rin cried.   
Bon rolled his eyes. “Besides you, Rin,” he clarified before continuing, “Anyways, they’re only ever for something if they benefit from it somehow, usually at the expense of whatever idiot made a deal with them.” Envy glared at him.   
“Wait, what about familiars and tamers?” Rin questioned, “They seem to get along well. Also, Kuro’s my friend! And Sheimi has that little green guy and he seems nice.”   
“Tamers and familiars are a bit different but a lot of exorcists wouldn’t call their familiars their friends,” he clarified, “Demons listen to them because they respect their authority, and not everyone can be a tamer. Even then, most tamers still have a contract with their demons of some kind, and that can be broken too and the demon will not answer to them anymore. Kuro and Nee are a bit of an exception as they are a lot more friendly than most demons.”  
“As for everyone else, as soon as you aren’t of use to them, they’ll throw you out like trash,” Bon finished, locking eyes with the homunculus.   
Envy raised an eyebrow and gave a laugh. “Oh, are you trying to scare me now?” he said with a smirk. However, inwardly, he was worried. Was the kid telling the truth? Just how much was Astaroth holding back from them? ...It didn’t matter. The had measures to stop Astaroth if he tries anything. If nothing else, if he betrays them in the moment of truth, they can always use the boy’s sword to get rid of him...That is, if this plan could still work now that gluttony swallowed a sacrifice, one of the twins, and the sword…  
Bon glared at him. “I’m not doing anything. I’m just stating a fact,” he said, “It’s your choice whether to listen or not.”  
Envy rolled his eyes. “Preach all you want. It’s not like it matters anyways,” he muttered as he turned to walk away, “That info isn’t gonna get back to anyone considering we’re going to be stuck here forever.”   
The four teens looked at him in alarm. “Wait, you mean that?” Rin questioned, “B-but this is gluttony’s stomach right? He’s your ally, or friend, or something! Shouldn’t you know how this stuff works?!”  
Envy turned to him and glared at him. “Of course I do!” he snapped, “And I can say for certain there isn’t a way out. We’re going to be stuck here for all eternity, waiting for our strength to run out. We’re out of options, done, dead, finished, whatever other term you humans like to use, and it’s all your faults! If you just behaved and hadn’t tried to kidnap Gluttony, none of this would have happened!” Hatred was clear in the homunculus eyes and his fists shook. They had ruined all of their plans, those meddlesome little mites. He was about ready to squash them for it.  
The four stood around dumbly in shock for a few second, unable to respond. Rin and Ling gave hopeless looks while Bon’s face became grim. Finally Ed spoke up. “But...how is that possible?” he asked, “How is there not a way out? What kind of place would it be impossible to escape from? Where exactly are we?”  
Envy raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought you of all people could have figured that out. After all, you have seen this before haven’t you?”  
Ed froze as realization dawned on him and the other three teens turned to him. “Ed...what is he talking about?” Bon questioned.  
“...I remember seeing something before he sucked us in. An eye in his stomach,” Ed admitted, “When I opened the portal of truth...I saw it there too…”  
The teens all took a step back. “Wait...are you saying we’re inside the portal of Truth?” Ling questioned.  
“The portal of truth...wait, that was that thing that we had to pass through to get to this world,” Bon said, “And it looked like a white void with a giant door!” Envy turned to him in surprise.  
“Oh yeah, I remember that,” Rin said, “My brother and I saw that too!”  
“Wait what?!” Envy cried, “You’ve all seen the real portal of truth?” he questioned before his eyes lit up curiously, “Wait...does that mean you’ve all opened the gate?”  
“What do you mean by that?” Bon questioned.  
Envy sighed. “Can you, or can you not do the things the pip-I mean fullmetal can do with clapping his hands?” he asked, demonstrating by pressing his hands together and outstretching them towards the ground like they had seen Ed do so many times before.   
“What? No!” Rin responded, “Bon here isn’t even an alchemist!”  
“We don’t even have alchemy in my world,” he stated with a shrug.  
The homunculus looked at him dumbly. “Don’t have…” he started, “What kind of backwards world are you from if you don’t have alchemy?!” Envy then shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know,” he said.  
“Wait a minute,” Ed spoke up, “You said ‘the real portal of truth.’ Are you saying this place is a fake portal? How is that possible?!”  
“I don’t understand everything Father did to create it, but yes,” Envy said, “Gluttony was a failed portal of truth created by our Father. He was trying to make a real one but couldn’t. Our Father is powerful, but even he has limitations…” Envy looked away. “So currently, we’re stuck somewhere between reality and truth,” he finished, “And like I said before, there isn’t a way out.”  
Edward and Rin felt their hearts sink and Ling looked horrified. “No…” Edward muttered, looking off in the distance, a look of horror on his face. “T-that can’t be! Al and I….we made a promise! What is he going to do?! How is he going to get his body back without me?!”  
Rin was in a similar state. “Yukio….Dad…” he whispered. He hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye to his brother. What was going to happen to them without him? He felt his stomach twist and turn. It felt like it was his fault. After all, he was the reason why Gluttony had freaked out in the first place…   
Bon just glared at the homunculus, wishing he could just set him on fire and he moved his hand to the gun in his pocket. He was equally terrified of the situation, but his fear had quickly turned to anger. He wanted to blame Envy for all this, even if it wasn’t directly his fault. Even if this was all an accident and they partially shot themselves in the foot over this whole thing by trying to recapture Gluttony, none of them would have been in this mess if it weren’t for these monsters. In fact, the whole world would be better off without them.  
“This is all your fault!” he shouted, “You’re the ones who created this damn place! What kind of a maniac even thinks of something like that? ‘Yeah! I’m just going to make a walking talking doorway to limbo!” “You’re lower than demons, you know that? You deserve to rot in a place like this for all you’ve done! Experimentation, creating philosopher’s stones, murder…” he growled, “and to top it off, you were ones behind the genocide of the Ishvalan people, weren’t you?”  
Envy smirked at him. He was tempted to just crush him now for his words, but instead, he decided to ruffle him a bit more. He was going to die in a few minutes anyways. “Oh that? I’m surprised you even had to ask,” he sneered, “Of course we were, and it was the best job I ever had.” Bon’s eyes widened before giving him a look of disgust, his nose wrinkling up like a snarling wolf. “Those idiots probably told you how it started, didn’t they?” Envy said, still smirking, “How a little girl getting shot started the war? Well guess who pulled the trigger!” He pointed to himself while grinning cheekily.  
Ed’s eyes widened further in outrage and Ling looked disgusted. Rin’s face was twisted in fury. Smoke began curling from his fingers, but Bon looked the angriest of all. Even though he did not know this world very well, he did remember similar horror stories from school. The holocaust, the slave trade, the imperialists who invaded smaller nations and destroyed them, current terrors like in North Korea, and even what his own country Japan had done in World War II when they had invaded China and Korea, and to this day those things still made him sick to his stomach, but the feeling was still distant. It was harder to feel emotions towards someone when there wasn’t someone physically present to be angry at.   
But now there was someone in front of him, GLOATING about events just as horrible as those, and he was absolutely seething! He gritted his teeth and his fists shook as Envy laughed. “With one bullet, I ravaged their entire country!” he cried in glee, “Talk about invigorating!” He then let out a hearty laugh. Bon couldn’t help but imagine the one that had attacked his temple laughing like this. Ed and Rin were ready to clobber the homunculus in front of them. How dare he laugh at this! How dare he laugh at al, the pain he caused innocent people! How dare he laugh at all the soldiers he scarred! How dare he laugh at all the civilians who lost family or had their homes destroyed.   
However, they didn’t get the chance to as he continued.   
“And the best part is,” he said, a look of excitement on his face, “the soldier I impersonated was a moderate! He was against the occupation in ishval to begin with! And when the old bull was put on trial he had no way of defending himself and he was court marsh-” BANG!  
Envy’s face froze in shock as the bullet dug itself into his skull. Ling, Rin, and Ed lost their anger for a moment in surprise as Envy fell back into the pool of blood with a splash before they slowly turned towards Bon, looking at him incredulously as he held up the smoking gun.   
His nostrils were flaring and he glared daggers at the homunculus’s body but he calmed down a little as he lowered the gun. He then turned towards his companions before raising an eyebrow at them. “What?” he said, “Don’t tell me you didn’t want to do the same.”  
The three looked between each other before Rin shrugged slightly. All of a sudden they heard the crackle of the red lightning as envy got back up. He sent them a murderous glare as he got back on his feet. “I was talking you little roach! How dare you interrupt me!” he snarled before smirking, “Just for that, I’ve got a little something special I want to share with you before we all die!” All of a sudden the red lightning encased him again. They all stumbled back in confusion as he began to grow and turn green.   
“What’s going on?” Rin cried as the giant homunculus fell on all fours as he sprouted two extra sets of limbs and a tail. His features became more reptile-like and his body bent out of shape to become more beast like. His clothing melted away as his slimy green skin became covered in large green boils of some kind, which continued to grow until, much to the teen’s horror, became half formed human bodies hanging off of him. He opened his eyes again to reveal one was pitch black and the other had seven pupils. It reminded Bon of the stories of the impure king’s eyes. He towered over them, smiling a half human, half animal-like smile.  
The four teens swallowed and moved back, readying their weapons as the beast like homunculus lumbered towards them. “Ya know…” Rin spoke up, half laughing, half scared, “...I really would have preferred a duckmunculus….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *digs herself out of her pile of homework, study guides, and essays* I LIIIIIIIVE!*immediately begins to sink back in* No,no,no,no,NO!
> 
> Sorry this took so long guys. I've been really busy and was distracted with my some aus for a little while. Thank you for all the comments and kudos in the meantime btw! I am really excited for this chapter. I've been wanting to write it for a long time and now I finally have it done! YAY! :D I really hope you guys enjoyed it.
> 
> IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS: This summer I will be hosting a fandom week for fma! It's called Fullmetal Alchemist AU week, and as the name implies, it will be dedicated to aus of all kinds! It will run from July 9th to the 15th and there are a lot of really good themes for the week to choose from including one for crossover aus! The tumblr url is fmaauweek. You'll be able to find more info on it there. If you guys want to support it by making content, I would really appreciate it. The submit feature will allow you to share content with me on it, or, if you don't have a tumblr but want to contribute here, you can let me know with anonymous ask by giving me the story name and what theme it corresponds to. Please mark any mature content though in the tags, as I may not have time to read through everything!
> 
> If you aren't a writer, I would still appreciate you guys sharing this infer with others you know would like this fandom week. Thanks guys and have a nice day! *salutes before slipping back into her studying material*


	56. Beware my sting

The three walked carefully along the darken sewer path. It smelled of rot and decay, and there were koaltars everywhere. “I guess we really are getting closer…” Shura muttered as she noticed the swarms of the tiny black demons gettting larger and larger. She swatted one out of her face with an irritated look. Alphonse tried to pay them no heed, but it was hard considering they kept flying through his armor. He was eventually distracted from the tiny menaces by a the sound of something crunching. He raised his foot and looked down to see he had stepped on something. He gasped as to his horror he found he had stepped a bone. A HUMAN bone. Upon further examination, he found that the whole floor was covered in bones!   
Alphonse backed away nervously and Shura scratched her head, staring down at it. “Well that’s ominous as hell,” she noted, raising an eyebrow but otherwise looking unphased, “We really must be getting close now…”  
“Gluttony?” Alphonse questioned, voice getting slightly higher, “What is all this?!”  
“Are you sure you want to know that, Al?” Shura questioned.  
“Hm?” Gluttony said, turning his head to the side, “Oh! That's from the guardians!” the homunculus then pointed upwards with the a smile. The exorcist and the alchemist looked up to find a grated compartment above them full of many snarling and drooling monsters: chimeras, demons, and several other unidentifiable beasts.   
Xiao Mei hid in Alphonse’s helmet at the sight of them. Shura blinked in surprise before scratching the back of her heads and whistling. “Shit…” she muttered, “How the hell did we not notice that…”  
“The guardians protect our home from intruders,” Gluttony explained cheerfully, “Astaroth lent us some of his own guardians to make them even better at protecting father!”  
Shura turned to gluttony, a very serious look in her eye before glancing back up at the monsters. “I see…” she said.  
“Don’t worry!” the homunculus chirped, “They won’t hurt you because you’re with me.” He then continued forward. Alphonse followed hesitantly after him. Shura was the last to leave, not taking her eyes off the guardians. She glared at them before pulling back her coat a little to expose her stomach.  
“For some reason I’m not very inclined to believe you…” she muttered to herself before slowly turning to leaving. She hoped to god Astaroth wouldn’t find out about them being there until they actually met father. She doubted that he wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice Gluttony if it meant killing her.   
…  
The tunnel was quiet except for the occasional dripping noise of a leaky pipe. Dolcetto, Scar, and Mei treaded carefully along the path. Yoki had stayed behind, and frankly, Dolcetto couldn’t blame him. As they got farther, Mei and Dolcetto became more and more uneasy. Dolcetto’s dog half was practically screaming at him to get out of there as fast as he could. At the same time, his canine loyalty was forcing him to push forward and not leave his companions sides. He would be damned if he ever let them die.  
As they pressed on, the dog chimeras nostrils were suddenly assaulted by noxious fumes. He gagged for a moment before stumbling back, covering his nose. “Oh God, what is that?!” He hissed, “It smells like something died here weeks ago and no one bothered to clean it up!” The dog chimera had to squeeze his eyes shut as the sent got stronger, but they opened again as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.  
“Never mind the smell,” Scar growled, slipping his hand into his pocket to reach for the bottle of holy oil, “It looks like we have bigger issues at hand.”  
All of a sudden a whole hoard of demons and chimeras came thundering towards them. Ghouls of varying sizes as well as one or two larger monsters made up Asteroth’s own forces.   
“Aw hell…” Dolcetto grumbled as he pulled out his sword.  
…  
The four boys looked on in horror at the behemoth they were about to face. “Damn it…” Bon muttered, “looks like we really might not be getting out of here alive after all.”  
“Still,” Ling said, “If this is how we are to be remembered, I’d rather it not be for giving up and surrendering. “Ed,” he said, then turning to the teen, “Think you could make me a sword?”  
“I could use a weapon too. These bullets are gonna run out here,” Bon added. Edward nodded before clapping his hands and crouching down to make two weapons: a curved sword with a skull handle, and an iron bat covered in spikes before handing them to the two if them.   
Suguro smirked as he twirled it in his hand. “Not bad,” he said, “Liking the spikes.”  
“I would have preferred something a little less gaudy but it will do,” Ling said while grinning.  
“Hey I thought it looked pretty sharp!” Ed responded with a similar grin.   
Rin groaned from the background. “Really?” he said, “I can’t believe you just-” however, he was cut off as Envy suddenly slammed him with his tail. The homunculus laughed at him as he splashed and tumbled through the pool of blood.   
“Stupid humans…” he snarled, “Even with your powers you are no match for me like this! I’m going to squash you like ants!”  
Rin growled as he got up. “We’ll see about that,” he hissed as he began charging towards the monster, “I’m going to make you eat those words!” Envy tried to swat the boy out of the way but he jumped out of the way and sliced a gash into Envy’s third leg’s thigh. The homunculus roared in agony before kicking the boy aside. This signaled the others to jump in. Bon slammed his club into his legs, causing the bones to fracture slightly. Ling darted around him and slashed the monster wherever he could. Ed continued to throw him off by using his alchemy to shift the ground beneath his feet and deliver devastating blows to Envy’s sides. The homunculus then began thrashing about like a wild bull, trying to use his size to fend them off. Flung Ling into a concrete slab, sent Bon skidding across the water like a skipping stone, and charged after Edward, trying to crush him underfoot. However, none of this deterred them. They all quickly got back on their feet and continued their assault of the behemoth.   
…  
“ARRRRRRRRRUUUUUUuuug,” the beast cried as it fell on its side. The two separated halves of the bodies hit the ground at separate times. Dolcetto gave the fallen chimera a pitying look before moving onto the next creature attempting to run him down. It was a mix between a deer and a wolverine. It attempted to gore him, but the dog chimera was too fast. He leapt onto its back and sliced the chimera’s head off in one movement before darting away.   
He had taken down most of the chimeras attacking him with Mei’s help. Most of what was left were the demons. This proved a lot more difficult for them, as he wasn’t able to kill a lot of them, only handicap them. Right now he really wished there was some way to make is sword effective against demons...was there one? If there was and they survived, he was definitely going to invest in that.   
For the time being, however, Scar was the one mostly taking on the demonic forces. He barely had a moment to breath as he was constantly dodging attacks and countering with his own, all while muttering scripture under his breath. A few managed to knock him down and Dolcetto had to immediately run to his aid, slicing off whatever limbs he could, only to watch them grow back or the monsters to try and hobble on unrelentingly without them. “You ok?” He called over his shoulder to his Ishvalan companion. Scar grunted and nodded as he got up, ready to get back into the fight. However It was clear they were fighting a losing battle. There was no way the two of them could take on this whole horde.   
And it pretty much was the two of them against the demons, as Mei couldn’t see them. Sure she could sense them, but the combination of having them be in such large numbers and being in such tight confinements meant distinguishing them to be near impossible. She had been lucky thus far as they had been mostly targeting Scar and Dolcetto due to their temptaints and Scar’s recitation, but it was only a matter of time before she became a target.  
“Mei!” Dolcetto shouted as he sliced through another body only to have it start to put itself together as it hit the ground, “You need to get out of here!”  
The girl paused in shock before turning to him. “What?”she responded, “Are we going to find another way in?”  
“No,” he said, “You need to get out of here and never come back!”  
“What do you mean by you?” she questioned suspiciously as she dodged another chimera, “Aren’t you going to come with?”  
Dolcetto bit his lip as he chopped the head off another ghoul. Did he tell her the truth and risk her staying? Or lie to her and leave her waiting in vain for them.  
“There’s no time,” Scar growled, exploding another demon’s head, “You need to get out of here while you still can!”  
“But what about you?!” she cried.  
“Nevermind us, just go!” he shouted, “You’re going to be ripped apart if you stay for much longer!” He turned to her and looked her dead in the eye. “I said run, girl!” he snapped, “Do as you’re told and leave us!”  
Mei took a step back in slight fear from his tone. Her eyes watered slightly before becoming determined. “No!” She shouted, taking a step forward, “I’m not going to-” However, she was cut off as a large rat-ghoul attacked her and sent her tumbling to the ground.  
“MEI!” Both men shouted before being surprised by their own foes. It clawed at her face, drawing blood, but she managed to grab it and rip it off of her. Once she had, she opened her eyes and gasped in fear at the horde of demons before her.   
“Mei!” Dolcetto called, slicing the ghoul that had caught him off guard to ribbons before dashing over to her. “Mei, are you alright?” he asked with worry as he knelt down next to her.   
Mei didn’t respond as she stared on at the large drooling neberious charging towards them. Dolcetto turned towards it, readying his sword. There was no way he was going to let another one of those beasts near her. “Mei, get out of here, I’ll-” he started, but was cut off as the girl pulled out her knives from the ground and flung them at the chest of the neberious. It cried out in pain momentarily but attempted to continue forward.   
Before it could do so, Mei slammed a hand down on the circle. It crackled to life in the darkness with blue lightning and seem to travel through the air towards the beast. A circle seemed to flash on it before it screamed and exploded, splattering on the walls. The carcass bits stopped just short of the pair and Dolcetto sat there, staring in awe at what had just happened. Even Scar and the other demons had been momentarily distracted. Some of them even began shying away from the girl.   
Dolcetto turned to her slowly, still gaping as she got up with a furious look and moved to retrieve her knives. The other demons hissed in warning at her, but still backed away from her slightly as they did.   
“Like I was saying,” she said rubbing her nose after sniffling, “You two are my friends! I owe so much to you! I won’t to leave you here to die, no matter what!”  
Dolcetto could only stare at the girl, speechless with wonder as she went on to fight the other demons, using a mix of alkahestry and her martial arts to take them down one by one.   
He had to shake his head to bring himself back to reality. As he did, he got back up and charged into battle, his confidence in their standing renewing as he promised to never underestimate her again.


	57. Lions make leopards tame

Father’s eyes suddenly opened up wide and he frowned. It was as if an alarm had gone off in his head. His defense system had been penetrated and he could feel someone getting closer to his lair, but how? His chimeras were the most dangerous and vicious creatures he could create, and they were aided by the demon’s minions on top of that!  
“Astaroth!” he called, standing up.  
The demon turned from his work and frowned before adjusting his glasses and forcing a smile. “Yes, my lord?” he asked as sweetly as he could muster.  
“We have uninvited guests approaching,” he said, turning to the demon.  
The demon raised an eyebrow before waving him off. “Do not worry, Sir,” he said, “Even if they get past your chimeras, they won’t be able to get past my kin.”  
“They already have,” Father said, narrowing his eyes at him.  
Astaroth’s eyes suddenly grew in alarm and he turn towards father, pupils now slits. “What did you say?!” he demanded.  
“They have already made it past the first defense system, which had over a hundred demons within it,” he repeated, “I believe it's those the exorcists that came here.”  
Ataroth gritted his teeth and growled. “Damn…” he hissed before shaking his head. “No matter!” He said, throwing his hands up in the air, “Let them come! They will regret setting foot here.”  
Father raised an eyebrow. “You have a plan?” he questioned.  
“I have something,” the demon said grinning, “Something very special I’ve been preparing.”  
….  
SHLACK！  
“AHHHHHHHHHH” envy cried, gripping his arm. There was a long slash in it from Rin’s sword. The monster turned and glared at him, gritting his teeth. Although he could not heal the wound, in this form it was little more than a scratch and he used his powers to move a few of the half formed bodies over the wound to protect it. “You little shit eating fly!” Envy roared, attempting to charge after him but stopping and grunting in pain again as a bolder made of blood made solid slammed into him and crumble. He turned and swatted Edward away with his paw. Rin used this momentary distraction to charge at Envy.  
“TAKE THIS!” he shouted, attempting to lob one of the behemoth’s legs off. However, although the sword cut deep into the leg, it barely grazed the muscle before becoming stuck. Rin hung there by the hilt of his sword, being shook about as Envy bellowed in pain and anger. Eventually, the beast loosened the blade and dislodged it and Rin, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud. Envy then kicked him as hard as he could, sending him flying.  
“YEAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Rin cried as he was flung through the air. He skidded across the pool of blood like a skipping stone three times before finally breaching the surface and sinking to the bottom. He splashed slightly before sitting up, gagging and spitting as he tried desperately to get the liquid out of his mouth. “Oh god, I think I’m going to be sick!” He cried as he tried to wipe the substance off of himself. In the distance, he could hear Envy laughing in the distance. He couldn’t help but feel it was directed at him.  
“...Bastard…” Rin growled as he searched for his sword, “Laugh at me and I’ll turn you into lizard soup! Then we’ll see who’s laughing!” He spotted the glowing blue spot a small distance away. He waded through the red sea over to it and pulled it out. He smiled for a moment, but as he turned to run back into the fray, his eyes widened as he saw his friends being thrown in his direction. He ducked as they splashed down and he quickly whipped around to see what had happened. Bon looked dizzy and was slowly helping Ling up while Ed was sitting there, staring off.  
“Are you guys ok?” Rin asked, glancing between them.  
“I’ve got whiplash and that landing did something nasty to my shoulder,” Bon admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck, “but otherwise, I’m not too beat up yet.”  
“My ribs are cracked and I’ve got a twisted ankle,” Ling grunted as he got up, “But I can still fight. It’ll take a lot more than that to take me down.”  
“What about Ed?” Rin asked tilting his head to the side as he looked down at him, “What's wrong with his face?”  
Ed was staring off into the distance, a look of shock on his face. “They...they were human…” he muttered, “Children and parents…”  
“Edward had a revelation,” Ling said.  
Both Bon and Rin looked confused. “Wait, that’s what caused him to freeze up?” Bon asked, “What kind of revelation? What did he realize?”  
“Those...those bodies covering Envy’s skin,” Ed said with disgust, anger, and horror as he looked down, “They’re people. They’re the souls of the philosopher’s stone! And they’re still alive! They were crying out in pain, for help…”  
“Ed, calm down, they’re just illusions!” Ling tried to assure him, “Envy’s playing you! He’s toying with all of us like a cat! You have to keep fighting!”  
“I can’t!” Ed snapped, “they aren’t illusions ling, they’re humans! They’re the souls trapped in that monster’s stone!”  
“It doesn’t matter if Ed can fight or not--Look out!” Bon said before grabbing them and pulling them out of the way as envy attempted to pounce on them. He pulled them all onto a flat stone surrounded in shards of carved ruins. “As I was saying, there’s no way we can beat him. He’s too big and strong for us. Not even Rin’s sword made a real dent despite being the one thing that can leave a mark,” he lamented, “We’d need to be as big as him to really be able to stop him.”  
Rin grimaced, but then his eyes lit up as a thought came to mind. “I know what we can do!” Rin blurted out, causing everyone to turn on him in surprise.  
“You do?” Ling asked.  
“Yeah, but I’m gonna need you and Bon to keep him distracted for a bit,” he explained.  
The two non-alchemists looked to each other for a moment hesitantly before readying their weapons. “Alright, Rin, but this better work!” Bon warned.  
“Don’t worry! I got this!” Rin said giving a thumbs up. He then turned to Ed. “Ed, come on I need your help!” he said, pulling him to his feet, “I need you ti help me draw a circle!”  
Edward gave him a confused look. “Like a transmutation circle?” he asked.  
“Kinda, come on!” he said before dragging his friend to the edge of the platform to wet their fingers to draw. It only took them a few seconds to complete it, but now Ed was a little concerned.  
“This looks familiar, but this isn’t a transmutation circle of any kind…” he said, “it’s not alkhestry, is it?”  
“Nope!” Rin said, pulling off his now soiled glove, “It’s a summoning circle. Bon said we’d need help from someone bigger than us, and I know just who to call!” Rin smirked before pricking his thumb with his tooth and letting the blood drip down on the circle. “Come on kuro! We need you buddy!” he said.  
Ed blinked and his head twitched in surprise. “Kuro?!” he repeated.  
Smoke formed on the circle as the cat began to appear.  
….  
Shima was playing with Elicia and Kuro, helping her lead the cat on with a string, when all of a sudden Kuro disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shima stood there for a moment, wide eyed and Elicia gasped in surprise. “Oh no!” She cried, “Kitty disappeared again!”  
“Wait…” Shima said, processing this, “Again? What do you mean again?”  
“One time he disappeared like that and came back a while later all scratched up and tired!” she explained, “I hope he comes back ok…”  
Shima frowned. Kuro is Rin’s familiar and if he disappeared, then that’s probably because Rin summoned him. That plus Bon still not having arrived yet means that they must be in a lot of trouble. “I hope so too…” he muttered.  
….  
The cat appeared in a puff of smoke and shook himself before looking around. “Alright! It worked!” Rin cried, jumping up and down. Ed stared in disbelief. Bon and Ling were still busy fighting envy and still hadn’t noticed yet.  
“Rin?” the demon cat questioned, “Rin, where are we?”  
“Long story, but we’re trapped inside a bottomless limbo place thing with Envy and we need your help,” he explained, “Can you?”  
The cat nodded seriously, and saluted him. “You got it Rin!” he assured.  
“Wait a minute…” Ed said, still in disbelief, “Of all the monsters you could have summoned, you summoned your own CAT?!” His fists were shaking as his shout echoed in the darkness and grabbed the attention of the others.  
Bon, Envy, and Ling all turned to look with surprise and confusion at the sight before them. “You have got to be kidding me….” Bon muttered before Envy burst out laughing.  
“Oh this is RICH!” Envy cried, wiping tears from his eyes as he did so, “THIS is what you’ve summoned to fight me?! I would feel insulted if it weren’t so funny!” The beast rolled over on its side in laughter. He even made the half formed malignant bodies that hung off of him laugh with him. Usually he would be terrified of this thing, maybe even try to turn tail and run, but now that he was in his true form, there was no way this creature could lay a claw on him. No longer could that damned cat torment him! He could finally make the little monster pay for all it had done to him and be rid of it once and for all. “I could crush that thing under my smallest pinky toe!” he continued to laugh, “I knew you were stupid, but not this stupid! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”  
“There better be more to this plan Rin,” Bon growled, gritting his teeth, “Otherwise, I’m gonna wring your throat myself!”  
“Don’t worry,” Rin said with confidence, “Everything is going to work out fine. Now Kuro!”  
Envy was laughing to hard to see what was going on, but looked up as he heard Ling gasp. “Is it just me or did that cat just turn invisible?” The prince questioned. The homunculus looked up in confusion and its many pupils suddenly dilated in horror at what he saw. Rin smirked and Bon and Edward looked on in aw at the giant two tailed cat.  
“Yeah...that’ll work…” Bon mumbled.  
Meanwhile, Envy’s heart was filling with dread as he crawled back onto his feet. “No…” he whispered, “No, no, no, nO, NO, NO!!!” “Th-that’s impossible!” he cried, voice cracking slightly on the last word as his whole body was now shaking, “This is some kind of trick! It must be!” This must be some kind of nightmare or something. There was no way this was happening. It couldn't! He must have hit his head while in the forest and dreamed this whole awful thing all up!  
However, this was not the case at all as both Rin and the cat smirked simultaneously. “It’s no trick, man!” He said, “go get em’ Kuro!” The cat sidhe licked his lips before wiggling his hind quarters and roared as he pouncing at the giant homunculus. Envy screamed and tried to scramble away but the demon cat that was now a little more than half his size landed square on his back, causing him to collapse onto his belly and curse. The boys had to hold back laughter as they watched the once fearsome homunculus struggle and scream as he tried to get out of the monster cat’s clutches, who was now purring above him in delight.  
“Let go of me, fleabag!” Envy cried, before rolling over to push kuro off, "This isn't fair! I should be the one cruching you!" The cat stumbled and Envy took the opportunity to get up and tackle kuro. He pinned the giant cat on its back with one paw and smiled triumphantly. “Hah! Not so tough n-” he started but was cut off as the giant cat suddenly slashed him across the face. Envy yelped and cursed, stumbling back. Kuro immediately got up and continued his assault, practically hacking away at Envy, and all the homunculus could do was back up and dodge.  
“WOOOO!” Rin cheered from the sidelines, “Go Kuro! Give him a left! Then a right!”  
Bon gave him an odd look. “How? He doesn’t have any fists!” he questioned.  
“Yeah well he’s got left and right paws with claws…” Rin said with a shrug.  
“Can someone please explain what was going on? I can’t see anything but Envy backing away from some invisible demonic force,” Ling asked.  
“Rins cat became giant and is currently kicking Envy’s ass,” Ed said simply, still mesmerized by the fight.  
Ling blinked before sighing. “You know, if it weren’t for everything else that’s happened today I wouldn’t believe you, but because of today, I do,” he muttered.  
“Amen…” Bon said, crossing his arms.  
Envy lunged and bit Kuro’s shoulder, causing the demon to give a roar of pain and anger. The cat growled before retaliating by scratching Envy’s left eye out. The homunculus stumbled back in pain and tried to turn tail to get some distance and heal, but Kuro wouldn’t let him. He bit down on Envy’s tail and planted his feet firmly in the ground. The homunculus strained himself to get away. Kuro then used his tail to pull him to the ground and drag him like a rag doll before slamming him into a stone pillar, causing it to collapse on him.  
“Ouch,” Rin said, “That’s gotta hurt.” It was then that he noticed Ed was no longer standing next to him. “Ed?” he called, looking around, “Ed, where did you go?” He finally turned all the way around to see Ed examining the ruins. Rin raised an eyebrow. “Uh, dude, what are you doing?” he questioned, catching the other’s attentions, “You’re literally missing out on a real live giant monster fight here!”  
“I know, but I’m busy with something a little more important,” he said, “These ruins...I remember seeing similar ones at Xerxes, and at lab five.”  
Rin raised an eyebrow in intrigue while the other two looked confused. “Does that mean something?” Bon asked.  
Ed turned to him with a confident smile. “It means we may have a way out,” he explained, “But we’re going to need Envy to do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long guys! I've been really busy this past month with a combination of work and preparing for fma au week on tumblr, a week dedicated to fma aus running from july ninth to the 15th. I'm moderating that fandom week, which is part of why I've been busy. i've been trying to get everything done ahead of time. if you guys are interested in contributing, the tumblr url is fmaauweek. anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. please let me know what you think!


	58. once more unto the breach

Envy pushed the last stone slab to the side of the platform. “There,” he said with a huff, “I got the last one.” He then glanced at the cat sidhe watching him. “Now can you please get rid of that thing?” he said, glaring at it. Kuro hissed at him and he flinched before scooting away.  
“Fine,” Rin said, “Alright, Kuro, thanks for everything. We’ll call you again if we need you.” As Edward cleared away the summoning circle to make room for a new transmutation circle, the demon cat nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Rin then stood up and looked down at the transmutation circle Ed had just made. “Sooo….What is this supposed to do anyways?” he asked, scratching his head.  
“It’s a human transmutation circle,” Edward explained, causing everyone to look at him in alarm.  
“Woah, woah woah…What did you say?!” Rin questioned, “Human transmutation?! Are you nuts? How is that going to help us!”  
“Yeah, didn’t you say that was used for bringing people back from the dead?” Bon asked, eyeing Ed cautiously. What on earth was he planning?   
“Attempting, yes but that's not what we’re doing,” he explained, “Envy said that we’re inside a defective portal of truth. If we open the REAL gate of truth we can travel through it back to our world. You can’t transmute a dead soul, but you can transmute a living one. I was thinking that if I can deconstruct my self through transmutation, I can pull us across the gate to the other side, all you guys need to do is step in the circle when I say so.”  
“What happens if it goes wrong?” Envy questioned skeptically.  
“Then there will be a rebound. If it fails the transmutation will bounce back onto me and only me,” Edward explained. Bon and Rin exchanged a worried look. That thought wasn’t exactly comforting. The last thing they wanted-especially Rin- was for Ed to die.  
“You sure about this?” Bon questioned.  
Edward nodded. “It’s the only option we’ve got. We have to at least try,” he explained.  
“I’m not going to pretend I know anything about alchemy,” Ling said, “This is all up to you.”  
Rin was not so compliant however. “He may leave you to do this alone, but not me!” Rin said, determination in his eyes, “I’m an alchemist too! I’m not just gonna let my friend possibly kill himself! I’m gonna help with this transmutation too!”  
“No!” Edward said firmly, “It has to be me Rin. I’m the only alchemist here with experience in human transmutation.”  
“Yeah but-” he started but was cut off.  
“God, are you really going to argue about this?” Envy complained, “You’re literally arguing over who gets to possibly kill themselves. I thought you humans had some sense of self preservation, but I guess you’re too stupid for even that, let alone think rationally about this.”   
“HEY-”  
“Let me finish, brat,” the homunculus continued, “I hate to admit it but the Pip-er Fullmetal alchemist, has a point. He’s the only one here who has committed the taboo, and better yet managed to come out of it alive. He knows how it works, certainly more so than you. Hell seeing the portal of truth just all around makes him a better alchemist than you. Personally, as I’m sure everyone else here agrees, I’d rather put my life into the hands of the guy who actually knows what he’s doing.”  
Rin opened his mouth to respond but found himself unable to. He didn’t want to admit it. Hell, he hated to even think about it, but Envy was right. He was nowhere near Edward’s level. He clench his fists and grit his teeth, wanting nothing more than to punch the monster in the face. “Fine,” he growled, “Edward, just open the stupid portal already…” Bon gave him a slightly pitying look before rolling his eyes and giving Rin a small pat on the back. It must have stung to realize a literal monster was right about you.  
“Hold on, I still have a question for Envy before we go,” the golden haired boy said before turning towards the giant monster. He raised an eyebrow at Edward before the alchemist moved to start drawing something off to the side in blood. The three other teens moved around him to get a closer look.   
“Wait,” Bon said, “That looks familiar...was that where we had camped before we met you guys?”  
“I remember it too…” Ling noted.  
“It’s full version of a partial mural I saw in Xerxes, taking into account these fragments,” he explained as he finished his drawing. He then pointed to a script that didn’t look quite right. “This is the first thing that I noticed, that the symbol of god is written upside down,” he said, before pointing below it, “And over here is the image of the two headed dragon, the image for a perfect being.”  
“So?” Rin questioned, “What does that mean?”  
“It means, I will strike God to Earth and become a perfect being,” Edward explained.  
“Well that’s certainly an arrogant statement,” Ling noted dryly.   
“More like megolomaniac-ish,” Bon added, crossing his arms.  
“It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for this,” Edward said as he pointed to the stone carving with a red gemstone sun and a green lion, “The green lion swallowing the sun, the symbol for the philosopher’s stone.” Edward’s face became hard as he tried to hide his anger. “A philosopher’s stone is made with human lives, right Envy?” He questioned.  
“Yeah, that’s right,” the homunculus responded uninterestedly.  
“How could a nation as advanced as Xerxes fall in one night?” he questioned, “What happened to it’s citizens, it’s people? You put these stone fragments here to hide the evidence, didn’t you?” The three other teenagers’ stomachs began to sink as they came to the same conclusion as Edward, but Envy still looked unphased. “You killed them,” he stated with disgust, “You sacrificed all of Xerxes to make a philosopher’s stone!” All eyes turned onto Envy, but he still looked unaffected. “Who was it?” Edward demanded, “I want to know who transmuted himself! Who slaughtered a whole nation? Who created all of you? Who’s trying to become so powerful he’ll surpass god!” “It was your father wasn’t it?” Ed continued, narrowing his eyes, “He’s been using all of you homunculi to try and recreate the fall of Xerxes here in Amestris hasn’t he?”  
Rin’s eyes widened at that and his jaw fell open as he glanced between Edward and Envy. Was that really the homunculi’s plan? He couldn’t believe it. They were just going to destroy the whole country! His family, his friends, thousands of innocent people...gone! He felt both a sinking feeling and a burning anger in his stomach. Those monsters. When he found them he was gonna...well he didn’t know what he was going to do but he was going to make them regret it!  
“And if that’s the case, then why do you need the help of demons this time?” Edward questioned, “He didn’t need them before, so why now?  
Envy narrowed his eyes and smiled. “You get us out of here, and I’ll gladly tell you everything!” Envy sneered, “I’m tired of you beating around the bush about this. You need to pay a toll to open the portal, right?” Envy then stuck out his tongue, revealing the glowing stone in the center. “This should work,” he finished.  
Edward gulped. He had been avoiding the thought but he supposed he couldn’t anymore. Rin also looked uneasy about this. He shuddered as he heard their crying out for help. “Those are the citizens of Xerxes aren’t they,” Edward noted solemnly.  
“At one time, maybe but their bodies and minds have since crumbled. They are nothing more than energy,” Envy reasoned, “They don’t even remember what they looked like when they were people or who they even were.”  
Edward still bit his lip. “But they were still people!” Rin said, “They’re still technically alive! There has to be-”  
“Really, you’re going to pity them? Are you two really so desperate to see these things as people that you’ll ignore logic? Would you refuse to throw a bundle of wood onto a fire because you pity the tree that they came from?” Envy snarled, “Grow up. These things can never be human again! You need to use logic define what is a human and what isn’t. You can’t let your emotions rule you.”  
Both Edward and Rin glared at Envy. Rin’s fists shook and Ed looked like he wanted to shout back at him how he was wrong, but Bon stopped both of them. “Look,” he said turning them around to face him, “I’m sorry to say this, but he has a point. Even if they are still human, that they’re still alive, there’s nothing we can do for them at this point. Their bodies are gone, decayed into fossils. And from the sounds of it, their souls are being tortured inside there.” He looked to Envy and frowned in disgust. “To be honest, they’re better off dead,” he said.  
“But-” Rin started.   
“I’m sorry, but you can’t save everyone. All exorcists know this,” he said, “There are plenty of demons out there that steal human souls for fuel like Envy, like ghost trains. There’s no saving those souls. Sometimes all you can do is put them out of their misery.”  
Edward and Rin gave him a hard look before glancing at Envy, sharing a look, and conceding. “Get into positions,” Edward ordered. The three teens and the homunculus did so. “Alright,” Edward muttered with a nod, steeling himself before clapping his hands. A thought simultaneously came to Bon and Ling’s minds.  
“Is it just me,” ling whispered, “Or does that gesture make him look like he’s-”  
“Praying?” Bon finished. The two exchanged a look before Ed placed his hands on the circle. Blue lightning crackled and stretched out across it as the it began to glow. The three humans found their hearts racing just by looking at it. Were they really ready to do this. “Alright! Step on!” Ed cried.  
Ling and Bon looked at each other before moving forward. Rin swallowed, steeling himself before he stepped inside the circle. “Here goes!” He whispered to himself. Almost immediately he regretted his decision as no sooner than when he had stepped into the circle did he appear start to disintegrate. “WHAT’S GOING ON?!” He cried, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Bon watched in similar horror as the same thing happened to him and ling. Envy also had a look of astonishment and slight panic, although to what degree was hard to tell because of his monstrous face.  
“Calm down! You’re going to be fine,” Ed tried to assure as best he could. He then turned back to the circle. It exuded white light that slowly engulfed them all. He only glanced back momentarily at the bodies covering Envy. He felt a twinge of guilt realizing that possibly dozens would be sacrificed to get them all safely across the gate. He decided that although he may not know their names, he would still remember them and their sacrifice. “Thank you,” he whispered just as the bright light engulfed them all.   
…..  
Edward held his eyes shut tight as he was pulled along the familiar track in the black void. Long white ribbons of images of his life pieced together like film strip and the knowledge of everything in the universe flowed past him. “Concentrate,” he told himself, “The soul is connected to the body through the mind. Right now my body is being hurdled to the portal on truth, so I need to let my mind guide me…”   
Now calm and focused he traveled through the portal of truth a second time, he truly felt how strange and foreign this place was. He realized he didn’t feel like he was being pulled through the gate anymore...but being pushed. He felt a strange pressure like fighting against a strong wind, but an even Jetstream pushed him along. He also felt like he could hear something in the distance…  
It was not a voice though. It was not truth’s echoing, mocking tone, or the whispers of the unknown forces that had poured information unrelentingly into his mind last time. No. It wasn’t any kind of noise that any living thing could make. It was a low rumble, like thunder. Edward opened his eyes in surprise at the sound. He did not remember any kind of noise besides the voices. What could it-  
Edward’s mouth hung open in horror. A large spider web like crack stretched across the void, dimly glowing a bright blue. At its center was a small hole that showed a purple swirling darkness where uncanny and inhuman shapes crawled out of and slipped through the cracks. His mind could barely process what he was seeing. Before he could even question what it was, a word popped into his mind, sending chills down his spine: “Gehenna”.  
Ed watched the shapes in horror as he was pushed along. “They’re leaking through…” he breathed, guilt and fear seeping through him as he was pushed away towards a gate. Another rumble sounded as the crevice grew wider. Edward swore he heard a deep, unfamiliar laughter sound for a moment, causing his heart to jump and the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. Before he could even comprehend what he had heard, he was pulled through the gate into a white void.   
Edward sat up, looking around in confusion for a moment. “Hello?” he called, “Hello!” His eyes darted around the room. He knew this place, but it didn’t make sense. There was a gate in front of him and white nothingness all around. Had he failed? Had the philosopher’s stone not been enough? Was he to pay a price for the damage he caused? If so then where was that white bastard?  
He slowly turned around, expecting to see Truth standing there with their mocking grin, but to his astonishment, he did not see them at all. His jaw dropped as he saw another gate much like his own across from him and standing in front of it was a frail looking human form with a familiar head of blond hair.   
….  
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rin continued to scream in panic as he was hurdled through the darkness. Strange white ribbons curled and twisted past him leading to a bright white light at the end of the tunnel. Every so often he’d see a still frame of his life flash by in them. His whole body felt strange as an unseen force pushed him along. He felt like he was whirling out of control as he was carried along in the current. This place was so strange and unearthly, he hadn’t experienced anything like it before. The only other time he had gone through the gate it was just a straight door they passed through to the otherside. That might have just been because of Mephisto’s key, but still. Is this what Ed had gone through when he had gone through the portal of truth?  
He didn’t have time to contemplate that for long, however, as something very familiar caught his eye. A koaltar floated past him for a moment. Rin stopped screaming and stared at it, dumbfounded. Small black hands quickly deconstructed it, but still. There had been a koaltar right in front of him! Inside the gate of truth! How did it even get there?!   
He quickly got his answer as he heard a thundering boom from up ahead. He managed to turn himself around and look at what was ahead of him. He gasped as he saw the titanic fracture stretching out across the void. It glowed blue with a dark purple hole in the center.   
“Is that…”Rin whispered, “the gate to hell?”  
Suddenly a low rumble sounded as it got slightly wider. Rin flinched and gulped at the noise, but felt his stomach drop at the next sound he heard. A low, echoing laughter resounded from the vortex at the center.  
“Hello, my son,” the voice called, causing Rin to suddenly feel cold. He did not recognize the voice, but he already knew who it was.  
“Satan!” he hissed, hatred clear in his eyes mixed with confusion and a bit of fear. What was he doing here? How was he here? Well, the giant crack was probably how but still. All of a sudden, Rin could feel his body slow down as he got closer to the crack until he was only drifting. He looked around wildly in a panic. “Wh-what the?! What’s going on?!” Rin demanded.   
“It’s so nice of you to drop by,” the demon chuckled, “It’s going to make this so much easier for me…” All of a sudden a swarm of small imp like demons poured out from the hole and began flying towards Rin. A few were picked off   
“What the hell?!” Rin growled as they moved towards him. “Get away from me! Back off!” he shouted, trying to back away himself. One of his hands went to his sword.  
“I may not be able to leave my domain yet, but my minions can,” Satan sneered, “And it will be even easier to slip you through the entrance my child. Come, join me young prince!”  
“No!” Rin snapped, eyes wide as one of the tiny imps grabbed for him, “No, no, no!” He tried to kick them away, but more just seemed to take their place. They tried to sink their claws into his skin as they did so. “I’m not going anywhere with you, you hear me! Get off me!” he cried. His heart was beating even more frantically as he struggled, starting to be pulled in.  
“Quit struggling, petulant brat!” Satan growled, “Don’t disobey your father!”  
Rin’s eyes narrowed at those words. “Don’t you dare say that!” he snarled, grabbing the hilt of his sword, “I may have your powers, but you are NOT my dad! Shiro was my dad! Roy is my dad! And you will never deserve that name like them!” He then unsheathed his sword, causing a huge burst of blue flames. The imps holding onto him burned up in the fire. The explosion pushed him back and all of a sudden he was moving again, just as fast as before. Satan roared and smiled in anger and Rin let out a breath of relief and delight as he sped away. He couldn’t believe that worked.  
“You will not escape me, my bastard child!” Satan roared as Rin was just about to pass through the gate, “You and your brother WILL see me again! And you will regret not complying when you had the chance!”  
Rin was unable to respond as he was pulled into a bright white light, but he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach just before he was. What did he mean by that? Was it just a bluff? He hoped so, although part of him hoped not, if for nothing else than to kick his ass face to face.   
….  
Shura, Gluttony, and Alphonse walked out of the tunnels into a more open area. They stood in front of a giant, rusted metal door. It reached up seemingly endlessly to the ceiling. From inside they could hear the sound of things moving inside pipes and steam being expelled every few minutes. A bit of light could be seen leaking through the cracks, but buzzing around the door were hundreds of koaltars, putting Shura on edge. If there were this many than she could assume it wasn’t just this Father guy in there.  
“We’re here!” Gluttony announced happily. Neither human felt apt to move at his declaration. He took a few steps forward before noticing his two companions hadn’t and turned around to look at them curiously. “What’s wrong?” he asked, “Father can’t help us if you don’t come in.”  
“Yeah, we get that, just give us a second,” Shura said, mulling over a plan of attack in her head. She had to be ready for whatever they faced in there. She doubted Astaroth or Father were just going to let them leave when this was said and done, and she couldn’t face off against a demon king unprepared.  
Gluttony blinked in confusion before smiling and grabbing her arm again. “Don’t worry!” he chirped, “He’s a human sacrifice, so father won’t hurt him. And you were really nice to me, I’ll ask him not to hurt you either. I’m sure he’ll agree to it!”  
“Wow thanks…”she muttered as he jerked her along. Alphonse followed after them nervously. As they walked right up to the door and Gluttony began pushing it open, Shura’s eyes steeled as she brought a hand to her stomach, readying herself for whatever may come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY! New chapter! Sorry this took so long. I've been busy moderating fmaauweek on tumblr. If you guys want to check it out, there's still a day left not counting today. I've also been working on a separate blue exorcist fma au called the golden demon that finally has the second chapter up for it!
> 
> Also for those who were confused, the slowing down is due to Edward's time talking to alphonse's body inside the gate. I figure everyone got put on pause during that time due to the fact that they all popped out of gluttony at roughly the same time.
> 
> anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!
> 
> P.S. Next chapter should be an extra special one I've been planning since chapter 50. It's going to be a mix of bonus content and rejected ideas in celebration for writing this story for over fifty chapters! btw, this mean I will be skipping the clip show episode. sorry. there's just no way to fit it into the plot.


	59. Intermission (bonus chapter!)

A/N: Woohooo! Thank you all for following this story for over fifty chapters. This is one of my longest fics and I’m so glad you guys have been so supportive of it. To express my thanks, I’d like to share some behind the scenes content and bonus material. A lot went into planning this story. It actually started as something completely different. It pretty much started as a conversation between me and a friend of mine about how sucky it is that teen heros never seem to have good parent figures or just generally have super sucky lives. It turned into jokes about if they all had a group therapy session and eventually into if there was one specifically for teens with fire powers with Roy and Iroh acting as sort of guidance counselors in this crack fic. (I actually still might do that idea at some point for a comic).

Then it turned into Roy being a mentor for these kids and she commented on how what if Zuko or Rin were mistaken for Roy’s sons or something by other characters and you can guess where it went from there. 

Still there were a lot of changes to the story from there before I really started writing it.

One was where the end goal of the homunculi was to separate Rin’s human and demon halves somehow and give Rin’s demon powers to Father. That plan literally went up in cinders with Rin’s demon half killing all of the homunculi and they were forced to contain it. The idea was scrapped, however, as I couldn’t figure out a way to wrap it up.

Another ditched concept was that there would have been parallel version of the blue exorcist characters instead of having them come over from the other side of the gate as well, but that was another quickly scrapped concept as the parallels were kinda useless. The point of them was to try and do something with the parallel version of their mom or Shiro, but It became complicated and so I scrapped it.

Another thing I changed that sort of went in line with that whole parallels instead of the actual characters was that Ed wasn’t supposed to meet Mephisto face to face until he went through the gate the second time, in which case he humorously interrupted a conversation between Truth and Mephisto by literally being thrown through the gate between them before being sent on his way. But with the introduction of Shura and the others, I decided to get rid of that idea. Sorry.   
The one that I still have content for was when this was just going to be a 2003 fma crossover. I still have an excerpt from it about 2003 Wrath and Rin. Note this takes place on Yock Island after the military kidnapped Wrath.

…  
“STOP IT!” Suddenly, blue flames exploded from seemingly nowhere, pushing Edward back and trapping the small homunculus inside a circle. Wrath yelped, scooting away from the hellfire and into the center of the circle, wrapping his arms around his legs for comfort. He didn’t know why he was so afraid of these flames, but something deep inside him told him to stay as far away from them as possible.  
Meanwhile, Edward, Alphonse, and Izumi were standing back in shock. What had just happened? All of a sudden Rin ran into the clearing and stood in front of the ring of fire. arms outstretched as he let the flames die down. Still, blue flames covered the boy himself in his now demonic form. He glared at them, his electric blue eyes filled with rage and his tail lashing back and forth in fury.   
“Rin? What on earth are you doing?” Edward demanded.  
“What am I doing?!” Rin questioned in offence, “What are YOU doing?! You’re trying to kill a kid! Izumi was gonna ax him off for no good reason and you were helping her! I even heard Al shout he was going to rip his limbs off! What the heck, man!”  
“Rin, he isn’t a kid! He’s a monster! He was trying to kill us!” Edward tried to explain.  
“She tried to kill him!” Rin defended, pointing at Izumi, “And he’s not a monster. He’s a kid! You were taking care of him just the other day and telling Ed and Al to leave him alone!”   
“Rin, please,” Izumi said, “He may be a child but he is also a monster. He’s a homunculus. A creature created from a failed human transmutation by accident. We cannot-”  
“So? What does that matter if he was made by mistake?” Rin questioned, “You think every person came into existence on purpose? He can’t control the fact that he was born, and none of you have any right to decide whether he deserves to live. He’s still a person, damn! He’s still got all the stuff in him that makes up a person. Water, carbon, salt-whatever it is...all those exact measurements you keep in that little book that make up a human body. How is he any different?”  
Ed hesitated before speaking again. “Are you kidding me?” he cried, “Have you not seen all his crazy powers? He’s most definitely not human! He may be built like one, but he’s not. He’s evil!”  
“He stole brother’s limbs!” Alphonse piped up.  
And he wasn’t born Rin. He was created. From a taboo. He shouldn’t exist, Rin,” Ed said, “He’s unstable and a danger to everyone around him, including you. You shouldn’t even be near him! You can’t trust him.”  
Rin was silent for a moment. Expression unreadable as he glanced between the three of them. “Is that what you think of me, Ed?” Rin finally questioned, surprising them all.  
They glanced between themselves in shock and Ed hesitated before speaking. “What are you-”  
“I’M not human Ed,” he stated, staring him right in the eye, “I have crazy, almost uncontrollable powers and was born from a taboo, heck, the world would probably be a ton safer if I was never born at all. My powers are dangerous and a lot of people would call a demon like me evil by default. Do you really think I don’t deserve to live?”  
Ed’s eyes widened in realization and horror at what he had said to Rin. He felt sick to his stomach about what he had said. “Rin, no I,” he started, trying to apologize before Rin cut him off.  
“Then he deserves to live too,” Rin stated firmly, eyes challenging them as they swept over the group, “He’s not evil. He’s been stuck alone for like ten years. People aren’t born knowing how to be a good person. He needs someone to look after him and keep him in line. And if you’re not going to help him then I’ll find someone who will.” Rin grabbed the Homunculi’s hand at that causing him to yelp as he was dragged to his feet. He tried to pull himself away, but was unable to.   
His brain started to panic as he tried to think of a way to break himself free from the demon boy’s grip. He thought about biting Rin’s hand to try and get him to let go, but Rin turned to him with a fierce look in his eye. “And you,” Rin said, glaring down at him, “You can’t kill people either. You can’t become human by killing and stealing body parts. If anything that makes you less human!”  
Wrath glared at him. “What, do you have a better idea?” he questioned, “What do you know anyways? You said it yourself, you’re not a human either!”  
“So what if I’m not entirely human!” he defended, “being human isn’t about how your body works, it's about being empathetic and kind to other people. I know plenty of humans that are more of monsters than you based on how they treat people.” “And being human physically doesn’t always make you happy,” Rin said, looking him in the eye, “If you want to be happy and not alone, I can help you. But no one’s gonna want to be around you or call you a person if all you do is hurt people.”   
…..

A/N:Rin was going to sort of take Wrath in as a little sibling originally in this crossover and look after him. There were going to be a lot of cute moments like that, but the 2003 crossover got darker. Rin goes completely rogue when he gets back to lior and finds out what happened and kills Kimblee before creating a wall of fire around the city and guarding it from anyone who tried to enter. Dante also wanted to try and take Rin’s body(or try to at least steal his powers) after she found out what he was capable of. The problem was the whole thing just kept escalating and escalating and I couldn’t really figure out a way to wrap it up very well. That kind seems to be what 03 is about in terms of how the story is handled. Things are left unresolved and such.  
Despite scrapping the 2003 story line, I still wanted to keep some aspects of 2003 however, there were some episodes I just wasn’t able to do because I didn’t want to do a completely copy paste plot with Rin shoehorned in. I kinda regret that now because there were a few stories I really wanted to have Rin in. I do have bits from lior which I’ll be adding in later in the series, But for now, I’ll post the few scenes I had for the other elric brothers episodes.

….  
“Do you really think we're gonna find the Philosopher's Stone in a rundown town like this? Looking around, it's hard to believe they ever produced much gold at all,” Al said looking at the town in the distance as they headed toward it.   
“Liore had one and they were smack dab in the middle of nowhere,” Rin said with a shrug, “Speaking of, Why is so damn hot here? It feels hotter than the desert we had to trudge through…” Rin tugged on the collar of his t-shirt. He had already taken off his military jacket and rolled up his slacks.  
“Humidity?” Alphonse suggested.  
“It really isn’t that bad. You’re not gonna faint on us like an old lady on us are you?” Edward questioned with a smirk.  
Rin glared at him. “Shut up, it’s too hot for me to deal with your jabs,” he muttered before raising an eyebrow at him, “Wait. How are you not over heating in that coat? You walked through a whole desert in that thing and you never took it off once!”   
“So?” Ed questioned.  
“So, are you like part reptile or something? No normal human should be able to withstand that kind of heat,” Rin questioned.  
“It wasn’t that bad…for the desert anyways,” Ed responded, “And it’s not that bad today either. It doesn’t even feel sticky out.”  
“You liar, it’s like a hundred degrees out today!” Rin cried, “You’re trying to mess with me r-”  
“Elica!” They all stopped as they heard the man cry out. The three looked at each other before heading in the direction of the shout. The three ended up at an abandoned mine where they found three men trying to pull a mine cart off of a young girl.  
“It’s not going to budge…” one man said, biting his lip as he took a few steps back.  
Tears streamed down the girl’s face. “Daddy!” she sniffled, looking up to him.  
“It’s going to be alright,” her father said, crouching down next to her, “We’ll figure this out.”  
“Hey!” Ed called as they ran up to them, “What’s the problem?”  
“My daughter, she got caught underneath,” her father said, “a worried look on his face.”  
Ed smiled. “Don’t worry I’ve got-” he started before Rin cut him off.  
“Wait, let me try,” Rin said rubbing his hands together. Ed raised an eyebrow before shrugging to Al and letting him through. Rin squatted down on his knees on the other side of the cart of the girl and putting his hands underneath the gap between the ground and the cart. He then began to heave it with all his might.   
Ed raised an eyebrow at him and the men exchanged confused looks. “Kid, there’s no way you can-” one of the men started but was cut off as Rin pushed the cart off of her and back onto the track. The men stared at him wide eyed and jaws agape while Ed and Al shared similar looks of surprise. They knew he was strong but not that strong...  
“How did you…” one of the men started.  
Rin just smiled. “Let’s just say I’m a little tougher than I look,” he said crossing his arms.  
….  
“Look, all these books are on the philosopher’s stone,” Ed said.  
Rin whistled as he looked down the row of shelves. “I think that’s more books than I’ve read in my life, even considering how many I studied for the exam,” he said, “I can’t believe there’s so many books on something so seemingly impossible to find.” An idea struck him. “Hey why don’t we just take some of these and leave?” he said with a smirk, “I mean there has to be something in there that can help us, and we could get back at these bozos for identity theft. Two birds with one stone!”  
“What? But that’s illegal! We could get into serious trouble for that,” Alphonse cried.  
“They stole from you guys first,” Rin said with a shrug, “And I’m pretty sure impersonating an officer of the law is even more illegal.”  
“Well first of all, I’m not an officer of the law and neither is Alphonse. I’m a military officer,” Ed said  
“Still probably just as bad,” Rin said with a shrug.  
“Second, We don’t need this junk, the library in central probably has at least three copies of each of these,” he responds, “And third, I’m not leaving until I get these jerks to stop using our names.”  
“Not happening,” a voice called. They all turned to see two figures standing in a doorway, a tall blond boy and a shorter one in green overalls.  
“By any chance, are you guys the ones…” Al started but was cut off.  
“Stealing our names?” Ed demanded, anger clear in his eyes.  
“So that must mean you’re Ed then,” the taller one said, “The one in the suit.” Edward, Alphonse, and Rin all gave dumbfounded looks before Rin burst out laughing and Ed started gritting his teeth.   
“Oh man!” Rin laughed, “That one never gets old!”  
“Not him you dolt!” Ed shouted, “Me! I’m the fullmetal alchemist!”  
The two fake elrics looked at each other in confusion. “Alright…” the taller one responded disbelievingly, “And who’s the black haired kid?”   
Rin stopped laughing by then and smiled proudly. “I’m the spitfire alchemist!”he said smugly, “Rin Mustang.”  
“Oh right! You’re that reckless hothead that follows those two around and causes trouble,” the tall blond responded, snapping his fingers.  
Rin’s smile disappeared at this point, and he started gritting his teeth. “Shut up, asshole! Or I’ll cause you trouble!” he snarled, pulling on one of his gloves.  
“Rin! Stop!” Al said, “Don’t snap your gloves in here! You’ll catch the whole place on fire!”  
“He’s the one trying to pick a fight!” Rin argued, “At least let me take a swing at him!”  
“No, I’m not!” the blond said frowning, “So why don't you turn around and go home and leave us to take care of things around here?”  
“What, so you can get away with all sorts of crap using their names?” Rin questioned.  
“No, we don’t want to cause you any trouble, we swear!” the younger of the two brothers interjected.  
“If you don’t want to cause us trouble then you’ll stop,” Ed responded crossing his arms.  
“Then it seems we’ve reached an impasse, because we can’t until we’ve finished our research,” the blond with fringe in his face said, placing his hands on his hips and leaning down to eye level with Ed, “And I’m not about to let a little red runt tell me what to do.”  
Ed was now seething. His whole face turned red before he tried to punch Russell in his face, which he easily dodged. He tried again and again but the taller boy effortlessly twisted out of the way before catching Ed’s fist.  
“Wow…” Rin said with a whistle, “He’s surprisingly really good…”  
“An automail arm. Looks like the real Ed has seen some action…” the boy mused, before retaliating with his own punch. Rin winced as it connected with Ed’s face.  
“You know I’ve always wanted to see a genuine state alchemist in action,” the taller boy said smirking.  
“Alright then, how bout two?” Rin responded, stepping forward and snapping his fingers. A small explosion of blue fire happened next to Russell, causing him to flinch and stumble away, while ed used his alchemy to turn his arm into a blade.  
“Brother!” The younger of the two fake elrics cried, rushing over to his sibling and helping him up.  
“Two against one is hardly fair…” the tall blond said, pulling. Few stray strands of hair out of his face before smirking. He then pulled something out of his pocket and slammed it against the ground. Red sparks crawled across the floor, surprising both Ed and Rin. A transmutation without a circle? They were so surprised buy this, they weren’t able to react as the floorboards suddenly wrapped around them, causing both Rin and Ed to wobble and fall over. “You’d need all three of you guys to even stand a chance!”he finished with a smirk.  
“Grrrr!” You asshole!” Rin snapped as he struggled.  
“Hey! What’s all the commotion?” a voice called. Ed and Rin froze as they heard it, while the tall blonde in suspenders just smirked.  
“That would be the security guards,” he said, “Good luck with them!” With that he gave a mock salute before leading his brother back into their lab.  
“HEY!” Rin cried, “Don’t just-” but he was cut off by the door slamming on him. Then they both heard footsteps slowly getting closer.  
“Al?” Ed said, “We’re gonna need a little help getting out of here!” The suit of armor nodded before picking them both up and crashing through a window, escaping into the night.  
….

A/N: Hope you guys liked that. I have two more things for you guys bonus content wise. You didn’t really get to see Shiro’s backstory on how he met Roy, so here it is! Note: in some countries it’s legal for 18 year olds to drink alcohol. Also, there will be some blood and gore in this section.

….  
He should have known there was going to be more to this keeping his secret for him. Mephisto never gave out favors. Yet somehow he was still surprised when the demon came to him one day asking him to do a job for him. Granted, he was even more surprised when he found out what exactly the job would be.   
“Hold on a minute. First you say there are alternate realities beyond our own, then you say you expect me to help exterminate an entire world full of demons? Really? Are you insane?” he responded, “How the actual hell do you expect me to accomplish that?”   
“Well I don’t expect you to get all of them,” Mephisto said with a shrug as he sipped his tea, “Just enough that the place isn’t overrun by them. Just take care of the big problems.”  
Shiro still glared at him in disbelief, eye twitching in anger. “I don’t think you’re hearing me,” he stated, “This is a whole, goddamn planet! One that I have no idea about the geography on top of that, nor any money for transportation. How do you expect me to be able to cover that?! I can’t leave those boys for more than a month. They’re still toddlers! They need me around. On top of that my parishioners will be worried if I’m gone for too long.”  
Mephisto tossed a large key ring full of magic keys towards him. Shiro caught it and noticed that each one had something written on it. “You can use these when you get there,” he said, “they’ll take you to most any place, and each one works both ways. Any more complaints?” “Here, let me add a bit of an incentive,” he added, “I’ll be willing to throw in a small favor of your choice in the future as well. One life saving feat free of charge in exchange.”  
Shiro was silent for a moment before speaking. “Fine,” he said, “Let’s just get this over with.”  
And that’s how he had ended up in this universe, currently taking out a horde of hellhounds. The flaming beasts had been tearing up a small villiage in a country called XIng. Thank goodness they spoke Earth languages in this place. He was fluent in at least ten so he could communicate with someone almost anywhere. Anyways, they hadn’t been too happy about him destroying their little den, and he was currently dealing with ten at one time. He dodged one attack as he shot one in the head with a silver bullet while throwing a holy water grenade at another, causing the creature to explode and dissipate.   
“I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice,” Shiro recited, “my cry came before him, into his ears.The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook.” He continued to recite the psalm as he fought the demons. One tore at his sleeve and so he kicked it in the stomach, sending it flying. Two more he shot in the head.  
“Smoke rose from his nostrils, consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it,” he continued, pulling the needle of another grenade out with his teeth and tossing it, “He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew. he soared on the wings of the wind.” He shot another and mentally cursed as he realized he was running out of bullets, “He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,” he shot another dead, “the dark rain clouds of the sky.”  
The remaining hellhounds circled him, snarling as they did so. Shiro glanced betwe between them as they did so. “The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded,” he shouted as they pounced, “He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them!” The three hellhounds dissipated into smoke. Shiro dusted himself off and examined the tear iin his jacket before turning to leave. He’d have to fix that later. For now, he had to figure out where to get more supplies. As he walked back to the village, he pulled out the ring of keys and began searching for the right one. Mephisto had told him about a place where he could get more holy oil and herbs used for fighting demons, as well as spell tags. He could bless the bullets and water himself if he needed. Once he had found the right key, he had arrived at the village.  
He walked up to a shed as pulled it out and stuck it in the keyhole. The door glowed as he turned the lock and pulled it open. It dissipated, however when he shut it behind him, as if nothing had happened at all, and as far as anyone else in that village was concerned nothing did, but the burning of their crops and the slaughter of their livestock thankfully ceased the next day.   
….  
Shiro found himself in what appeared to be a desert community when he closed the door behind him. He looked around for a temple as he remembered that’s where Mephisto had told him to head. It had been quiet all the way over there, that is until he entered the temple area itself.  
He was walking along a covered walkway supported by stone pillars just outside the temple when he heard someone call to him. “Who goes there?” A voice behind him demanded. Shiro stopped in his walking and turned to see a young man standing before him. He was tall with a muscular build, but still had a very deep voice for someone who looked so young. He looked to be about his mid teens. He had tan skin, short, spiky white hair; and a square jaw, but the most striking thing about him was his eyes. They were red. And they were filled with a mix of anger and mistrust as he looked upon him.   
The boy studied the man before him, narrowing his eyes as he did so. He didn’t look ishvalan by any means, but he didn’t look like any soldier he had seen before. He looked to old to be a soldier. Still that didn’t make him any less uneasy. A strange, possibly Amestrian man standing near the entrance of the temple definitely didn’t make him feel comfortable. He could see the gun in the man’s holster. “I ask you again, who are you and what are you doing here?” he stated firmly.  
“My name is Shiro Fujimoto. I was looking to see if I could meet with the head cleric of this temple,” he responded calmly.  
“Why?” the boy questioned, balling his hands into fists, “What do you want with him.”  
Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Relax kid,” he said, “I’m just here to talk with him.”  
“Then why do you have that gun on you?”he questioned.  
Shiro sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain. The kid probably wasn’t going to believe him even if he gave him a reasonable explanation as he seemed afraid of him for some reason, though why he wasn’t quite sure.  
Thankfully he didn’t need to as someone came up behind them. “What’s going on. Is something the matter?” it called. They both turned to see an old man with a mustache walking down the temple steps towards them. “Sir, may I know who you are and what your purpose is here?” he asked. His voice was much more gentle than the boy’s but he still seemed uneasy.   
“My name is Shiro Fujimoto, and I would like to speak with the head cleric of this temple,” he explained.  
“I am him...What is it that you need?”he asked.  
Shiro stepped forward and motioned for him to do the same. The man did so carefully and Shiro leaned in to whisper to him. “I am an exorcist sent by Johann Faust,” he explained as Mephisto had instructed him to, “I was sent here to hunt demons and I need your assistance in replenishing my supplies.”  
The man took a step back and looked at him in surprise. Was this man really an exorcist? He knew of Johann Faust so that must mean something...Still…  
“Do you have proof?” he asked, “Proof that you are indeed an exorcist?” Shiro pulled out one of his daggers with the knights of the true cross symbol on it. The old man’s eyes widened even further. So he really was as he said he was…  
The old man nodded at him and bowed respectfully. “It would be an honor to assist you,” he said. “It is alright, child,” he called over his shoulder to the teenager, “He is not here to harm anyone. He just needs my assistance.” The boy looked confused but slowly nodded and turned to leave.  
“Come with me,” the old man gestured, “I’ll supply you with whatever I can.”  
….  
It was almost eleven at night as the four men walked home laughing from the bar back to the military dorms. Roy leaned one of the other men. He wasn’t nearly as drunk as the other two men, but his laughter was causing him to lose balance. He knew it probably would have been smarter to have not been out tonight as he should really have been preparing for his state alchemist’s exam in the coming month. Still he deserved to treat himself, so the eighteen year old decided to head out and hung out with a few of the other the other men who had graduated from the academy with him. He didn’t know them very well but it was better than drinking alone, or stumbling back to the dorms drunk alone.  
As they made their way back they almost passed by an old, abandoned house, when the one at the front of the group stopped. Causing them all to bump into him from behind. “SHit Ricky, what the hell?” One of them groaned, climbing to his feet, “Why’d you stop?”   
The man was staring up at the building and smiled. “Hey guys, look!”he said pointing at it, “It’s the old Vinkle house!”  
“Vinkle house?” Roy questioned as he stood back up.  
“Yeah,” Ricky said with a wicked smile, “a long time ago, one night, the neighbors of the Vinkles heard a loud screaming come from the house, like someone was being attacked. The authorities came the next day and the whole family was found torn to shreds. They never found the killer but numerous people who have dared to venture inside disappeared and were never heard from again!” The man made a “spooky” noise, wiggling his fingers in Roy’s face. Roy frowned and smacked his hand away while the other young men laughed.   
“Hey,” Finny piped up, “Who wants to go inside there and see what we can find?”  
“I don’t know guys…”Derrik piped up, “Isn’t that still technically breaking and entering? What if we get caught.”  
Roy nodded as well. He had just become a soldier this past year. The last thing he needed was to be discharged over something stupid.  
“Oh come oonnnn,” Finny said, chuckling and elbowing Derrik in the side. “Don’t be such a baby...Nothin’s gonna happen!”  
“The building is old,” Roy piped up, “And doesn’t look very well kept.” He glanced up at the roof that was caving in, “We could fall through the floor the minute we set foot in there.”  
Ricky blew a raspberry at him. “Fine! Suit yourselves you chickens!” he said, “We’re gonna go check it out for ourselves. You can keep watch for us if you want.” With that, he and Finny headed inside.  
Roy sighed and shrugged at Derrik. If they got in trouble that was fine with him. “Come on, I want to get to bed. They can find their way back,” he said. The other soldier agreed and the continued on their walk home in the cool night…  
“AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH”  
“HElp! SOMEONE HELP ME! STAY AAWAYYY! AHHHHHHHHHHCKKKKKLHHHHHHRAAAAAAAAAG!”  
But immediately stopped as they heard terrified shrieks of pain come from the house behind them. The blood curdling noise of the horrified and tortured human cried caused them to jump both looked at each other before turning back to the house. Any drunkenness they had felt was gone. The screams abruptly stopped and the whole street was silent for a moment. Derrik and Roy shared one more look before racing back towards the house, busting the door open, guns poised to fire. They both looked around and saw seemingly nothing as they stood in the doorway. They started walking through the house, back to back, calling for the two men as they did so. The floors creaked as did the ceiling and their voices echoed off the wall, but they received no human response. It was so quiet, they could even hear the scurrying of rats. Where could they have gone? However they quickly discovered as they entered the kitchen.  
Roy felt Derrik tap his shoulder and he turned towards him, suddenly struck with horror as he saw what was lying there. Two human bodies in a amestrian military uniforms lay on the ground, mauled and torn apart. Their insides were torn open and lay on the ground leaking blood. Flesh was stripped from the bone and their faces had been ripped off, however, both Roy and Derrik knew exactly who these men were.   
Roy backed up, his whole body shaking and he felt light headed at the sight. Derrik vomited all over the floor, several times in fact. Roy almost did so himself. “W-what could have done this?” He breathed, his voice barely above a whisper.  
“I-I-IIII D-don’t…” Derrik tried, before backing out of the room, “I can’t look!” With that he ran towards the exit. “I’m gonna call the police!”he cried.  
Roy blinked, trying to get rid snap himself out of his shock. He decided to do the same, and slowly started to make his way towards the exit when he suddenly felt nauseous. A noxious odor filled the air. And he covered his mouth as he gagged on it. Why was this sent just hitting him now?  
All of a sudden, a sharp, tearing pain rocketed up through his leg and he was pulled to the ground. He cried out before rolling over, gun in hand to face whatever had attacked him. He gasped in terror at what he saw: A large dog-like...thing. It’s body looked sewn together and it was covered in mold. One of it’s eyes was missing and it’s skin was a slimy green and purple. Roy felt the need to throw up again from the stench emanating from it but stopped himself and managed to shoot it in the face, freeing himself and allowing him to escape.  
But the dog creature just got back up again and padded after its prey. Roy ran down the hall towards the front entrance, but was stopped by ten of them blocking the exit. They all slowly moved forward on him. He fired his gun at the closest one, hitting its head dead on. It shook it off as if he had hit it with a frisbee. He backed up slightly, breathing heavily and sweating as he tried to fish one of his gloves out of his pocket. Just as he was able to, he was tackled from behind by the one he left in the kitchen.  
He rolled to get it off of him and punched it in the nose, but another one tried to jump on him at that time. He held it by its neck, trying to keep its snapping jaws away from him. Meanwhile, all the other ones were creeping in on him, ready to attack.  
Roy’s heart was pounding as adrenaline rushed through his system and his brain was fuzzy as it panicked. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. “Help!” he cried, hoping for a miracle, “HELP!”   
BANG!  
A gunshot sounded as something went whizzing through the air and through the head of the dog like creature above him. It immediately stopped it’s assault and went limp in Roy’s arms. It took him a second to process this before he flung the body as far away from him as possible. And got back to his feet, panting. What just happened? He didn’t have time to question this as he saw something bounce into view. The small cylinder rolled to a stop and it took him a moment to realize what it was: a grenade. Roy’s eyes widened and he barely had time to react before it went off. All he could do was turn away before it could explode. Roy shut his eyes tight...but instead of feeling searing pain from the shrapnel...he felt a spray of water. He opened his eyes to see all the dog creatures lying on the ground, curled up as smoke rose from them.   
Roy looked up to see an older looking man standing in the doorway, a gun in hand. He was wearing black and had glasses with a chain on them.  
Roy continued to pant, utterly confused. When one of the creatures tried to get up, the man shot it, causing it to flop back down again. Once the man was sure they were all dead, he walked over to Roy. “Sit down and roll up your pant leg,” he ordered calmly.  
Roy scrunched his brow together but did just that. The man pulled out a wet rag and started washing the injury. “That should stop any infection,” he said as he finished cleaning him up and bandaging the wound, “any other injuries?” Roy shook his head no. “Was there anyone else injured?” Shiro asked.  
Roy paused as he remembered what he saw in the kitchen. The eighteen year old slowly pointed towards it, still shaking. “The- They...mauled,” he said before clearing his voice, “Those things. They killed them.”  
The man looked in that direction before giving a sigh. “I’m sorry,” he said, “But I need you to promise me something.” “You can not tell people what you saw here today,” he said, “If people ask about what killed them, you have to say dogs. This isn’t me trying to cover up this, it’s for your own good. People will think you’re insane if you say otherwise, even if you bring back the bodies as proof.” Roy gave him a confused look, but before he could say anything, the man was helping him up and leading him out. “Also, if you ever smell the scent of rotting bodies or see little black dust balls floating around, get as far away from them as possible, especially if it’s night time,” he said, “Don’t mention them, don’t try to try to swat them away, don’t stare at them, just get away while acting as if nothing is going on, got it?”  
Roy was still trying to process what was going on as the man let go of him as he reached the sidewalk. “I’m sorry,” he started turning around, “But who-”  
However, it was too late. The man had already disappeared.  
….  
Roy had made his statement to the police the next day about what happened and did as the man told him, saying that wild dogs were the ones that killed Finny and Ricky. The case was quickly closed as they found canine teeth marks all over the bodies, but the whole ordeal stuck in his mind for days to come after that. He couldn’t shake the memory of that man from his head. He had saved his life but he had no idea who he was.  
He was determined to meet him again. He just had so many questions for him. Who was he? What were those things? Why did he save him? How was he able to kill them? He never thought he would find out….until one night.  
He was heading back to his dorm after visiting his Aunt Chris in the red light district of town. He had asked her about the man, but she had nothing on him. While he was walking to a bus stop, he heard a gun go off in a nearby alley. A part of Roy told him it was a bad idea to get involved, but a bigger part of him was curious as to what had caused that.  
So, he snuck down the alley and hid behind some trash bins to find the strange man facing off against what appeared to be blue lions covered in peacock feathers. He shot them down one by one, dodging their attacks as they tried to pounce on him. They wharreled and screeched at him, but were quickly silences with every gun shot. Roy watched in awe as he saw him face off against the creatures, dodging each of them with ease before shooting them dead. Even having to reload his cartridges seemed seamless. Once he was finished, the whole alley fell quiet.   
Roy let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. “Wow…” he breathed. That little noise was enough to catch the old man’s attention and suddenly turned, pointing the guns at Roy.  
“Who’s there?”he questioned.   
“Don’t shoot!” Roy said popping up, “I’m not one of...those things.”  
The man relaxed a little before he recognized Roy. “Wait a minute…” he said, “You’re that kid I saved from that ghoul!” “What the hell are you doing here?! Are you following me or something?” He questioned.  
“No!” Roy said, “But I had been hoping to meet you again.” “I wanted to thank you for saving me,” he explained, “Also I wanted to know who are you?”  
“Shiro,” the man said, “Shiro Fujimoto. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.” With that, the man turned to walk away.  
“Wait!” Roy said walking out from behind the trash bins he had been standing behind, “I still have more questions for you! What were you doing in that house? How did you know how to fight those things? Where did you come from? And why didn’t you want me telling anyone about this stuff?”  
Shiro looked at him with a tired look. “You’re not going to let up until you get your answers, are you?”he questioned. Roy smirked. “Alright,” he sighed, “I need a break tonight anyways. You find me somewhere where I can get a good drink and I’ll tell you what you want to know. It can only help you in the end after all…”  
….  
And last but not least, a short snippet about roy being parental to Rin because I know that’s what you guys came here for in the first place, and it’s been awhile since we’ve had some nice, fluffy content between Roy and his sons.  
….  
It had been a long night. Roy yawned as he walked back home. His’s son and the Elric’s latest escapades left him with a lot of paperwork on top of what he already had to get done. They hadn’t even come back into town yet to give their reports, but he already knew about all the damage they had done based on the forums that had been sent into him. He had lectured them before about being less reckless, but that didn’t seem to be sinking in….or maybe disaster was just attracted to them like a magnet. That seemed to be the case with with danger anyways…  
Roy stopped in his thought process as he reached his home and noticed the door was ajar. His eyes widened in worry before his brow scrunched together in confusion. He locked it. He knew he locked it. How had someone gotten in? As a thought on who it could be came to mind he groaned. “Please let it be a robber and not mephisto again,” he muttered to himself. The last thing he wanted was to deal with that clown. He pulled on one of his ignition gloves and walk inside, only to find it was neither a robber nore the demon king. Instead it was his son and Edward crashed on the couch, Rin snoring loudly as he was draped on top of the sofa and Ed was face down on the cushion, while Alphonse walked out of the kitchen with a garbage bag. Roy blinked before relaxing and letting go of a breath. Well this certainly was an interesting surprise...better than the other possible ones he imagined.   
. “Sorry, Colonel,” Alphonse said, bowing slightly with his hands behind his back, “Brother and Rin were really tired after the train ride back. They had been up all night the night before tracking down-”  
Roy held up a hand to cut him off. “It’s fine Alphonse,” he said with a sigh, “Though I wish you would have told me you were coming. I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to come back until tomorrow.”  
“Ed found a last minute train to get back, but they were both too tired to walk back to the dorms…”Alphonse explained.  
Roy walked over to the pair of boys fast asleep on the couch. “It would have taken several hours to get back. Did they even have dinner?” he questioned before he noticed cracker wrappers, a half eaten apple, and an empty bag of bread on the ground that he knew he had just bought yesterday.  
“They kinda...raided the pantry…” Alphonse answered in an apologetic tone, “I was going to clean it up, but then you got home.”  
Roy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was too tired to be anything more than annoyed. “Well at least they didn’t go hungry…” he mumbled, “But I’m definitely going to have a talk with them about cleaning up after themselves…in the morning that is…” He then began walking up towards the staircase.   
He then walked up to Rin and shook his shoulder a little. If they were going to sleep here, they might aswell sleep in a bedroom. Rin looked like he was about to roll over an either fall off or crush Ed and Ed looked like he was going to accidentally suffocate himself in the cushion. “Come on,” he said, “If you’re going to sleep here tonight, you should at least go to sleep in your own bed.”  
A loud, very teenagish groan came from the black haired boy that refused to open his eyes. “Come on...Five more minutes…” he mumbled.  
“You can have six more hours if you climb upstairs right now,” Roy responded, only to ber met with another groan. Roy sighed and ran a hand down his face. He then turned to Alphonse. “Can you help me get him upstairs?” Roy asked. Alphonse nodded before picking up Rin off the couch. Roy did the same with Ed, practically throwing the smaller boy over his shoulder before the two of them climbed upstairs. Roy then deposited Ed in Yukio’s bed, causing him to stirr slightly before falling back asleep and Alphonse set Rin down. Roy Then pulled the covers over him before moving to do the same for Rin. He glanced between them before nodding and turning to head to his own bedroom, but stopped as he saw Alphonse staring at him. “What?” He questioned.   
“Oh, nothing, Sir!” he said, “It’s just…Thanks...for not making us leave.”   
He raised an eyebrow at Al and gave a strange look to the suit of armor “You don’t need to thank me for that,” Roy responded.  
“But this is your home, and we barged in without asking,” Al said, “Even Rin technically lives with us most of the time. And we barged in without asking or letting you know and made a mess of the place!”  
“Yeah, but you’re also barely teenagers, ones that are debatably partially my responsibility seeing as your brother works under me,” he responded, “The last thing I’m going to do is throw you out in the middle of the night to wander the streets alone. That would just be crazy.” With that he yawned and turned to leave. “Night…There’s books down stairs or something if you need...” he said as he wandered towards his own room in the dark hallway.   
Alphonse smiled with his soul-fire eyes as he watched the man go. “Have a good night’s sleep, Colonel,” he said, before making his way down stairs where he began picking up the wrappers.  
…

A/N::Aaaaaand that’s it guys! Thank you so much for all your support! I’ve really, really appreciate it. I read every comment and I can’t tell you how much it warms my heart to see them, even when I can’t respond. you guys really keep me going on this fic! Have a wonderful day guys, and thanks again!


	60. Company in hell

Alphonse finished pushing open the large metal door and the three plus one tiny panda stepped inside. This new space was vastly different from the damp, dark, cramped sewer they had walked through. The ceiling was high, reaching up, seemingly forever with pipes that had formed a forest around the area leading up into the void above. The area was wide, and although it was still fairly dark, with only one area of light in the center, the air was dry and cool. However, it still smelled of rot and koaltars swarmed above them. In the center there was a figure sitting in a chair, the light shining down on him. Shura’s mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide as Alphonse gasped. She couldn’t believe it. The man looked exactly like hohenheim...well, hohenheim in a toga.   
Now that she saw this, she noticed several other details about him. His skin was paler and so was his hair. It also wasn’t pulled back and he wasn’t wearing glasses. Was this really him?   
“Who are you,” he demanded, narrowing his eyes, “What are you doing here?”  
“Dad?”Alphonse breathed. Shura held her hand out to stop the metal boy from moving forward.  
“I don’t think so,” she said, “Thought I wouldn’t rule out creepy uncle your family doesn’t like talking about just yet…” Who ever this was, was probably the father guy gluttony had been talking about.  
“You idiot! You brought the exorcist here!” a deep voice, dripping with rage growled from the darkness. Gluttony whimpered and hid behind Shura. the woman instantly knew this was Astaroth and summoned her sword. a few black tendrils reached out to grab gluttony, but Shura quickly slashed them away. “Come out and face me like a real demon you coward!” she snapped.  
The demon seemed to comply as a man with pale skin, glasses, and short brown hair entered the light. She could tell he was a demon as their were two ram’s horns on either side of his head, and there a tail swinging behind him, tipped with an arrow point.   
“Shou Tucker?!” Alphonse questioned in surprise. Rin had said he was alive, but he hadn’t expected to meet him again. Alphonse’s fists clenched. He wasn’t one to hate, but he loathed this man. Even though he had stopped Rin from hurting him, he still had hoped to never have to look at his face again.  
“Not anymore,”the demon responded, glaring at them, “My name is astaroth, And you all are going to regret finding this place.”  
“I think it’s going to end up the other way around,” Shura responded, ready to charge. However, before either of them could move, they heard a gurgling sound come from gluttony. He grabbed his belly as he began to stumble about, a confused and sick look on his face.  
“What the hell?” Shura whispered as his stomach gate started to open up. “Crap!” she hissed, “Duck and cover!” Alphonse and the exorcist jumped away before it fully opened and a whirlwind picked up, but instead of absorbing anything, it spat something out instead. five things actually. One gigantic lizard-like creature and four teenage boys. Everyone stood there with mouths agape as the four boys panted and huffed, exhausted from the bizarre experience they had just went through. Rin’s heart was still racing from having fought Satan, and Ed’s mind was still swirling from all that he had seen in traversing the gate a second time.   
“Well…” Bon said, “Whatever I expected, it wasn’t that….”  
“At least…” Ling said, “We all made it out in one piece…”  
Rin chuckled and nodded in agreement before he and ling lifted up their hands to fistbump Ed and Bon.  
“What is that thing?” Alphonse questioned, looking upon the giant reptilian form and walking around it.   
“Envy?” the man in the white robe questioned in surprise. Alphonse looked shocked while Astaroth and Shura both looked mildly confused.   
“That’s Envy?!” Alphonse shouted, in complete disbelief of how that thing could ever be the palmtree haired homunculus….Then again..they did have the same haircut for some reason. Shura on the other hand raised an eyebrow. This was supposed to be envy the homunculus? He didn’t look humanoid like the other ones, although Ed said he could shift his form.  
Astaroth frowned. No one had told him the homunculus could turn into a giant beast. Could they all do that? He’d have to find out soon.  
Everyone’s train of thought was suddenly interrupted as Alphonse shouted, “BROTHER!” and ran forward to scoop something out of the mess of giant limbs and assorted green human body parts. Alphonse lifted up his brother from the mess and nuzzled him. The other three boys all turned in surprise at this and the other humans and nonhumans moved to see what was going on aside from envy and gluttony.   
“Alphonse?” Rin questioned.  
“Al calm down!” Ed cried as his brother squeezed his tiny frame, “My ribs! Stop!” The armored boy immediately complied and set his older brother down.   
“Sorry brother,” he said as he did so, “I just, I thought you were dead…”  
Ed smiled. “It’s alright Al, we’re fine,” he said patting his brother’s head, “We’re alright.”  
“Sorry to interrupt, but what is he doing here?” Bon questioned, “Where even is here?” With that the three began to get up and observe their surroundings.  
“Wait, Bon?!” Shura cried before turning to gluttony, “You ate one of my students too?!”  
The large homunculus pressed his fingers together. “He wasn’t a human sacrifice…” he said, “Why are you mad? He wasn’t important was he?”  
“He was one of my students, idiot!” she raged, “of course he’s important to me! I can't allow one of my students to die. Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you? Either of you could have at least let me known he was in danger too!” She ran a hand down her face. “Well, at least he’s alive…” she sighed.   
All of a sudden, Gluttony was grabbed by a large black branch of fungal tissue and dragged over towards him before being slammed into the ground. “Not even a day and you already disobeyed!” Astaroth growled down at the bound homunculus. He snarled as he lowered his face down to his, glaring straight into the homunculus’ beady eyes as he struggled.  
“What did I say?!” he demanded as the pudgy homunculus whimpered, “What did I tell you about trying to harm either spawn of satan?! What did I say?!” The homunculus couldn’t respond as he pressed his foot into his stomach. Everyone was shocked by this. Ed, Rin, Ling, and Bon were surprised at how the demon was treating his supposed allies. Al winced while Father frowned. Even Envy was looking at him in surprise. He’d never seen him so mad before. “I will make you regret this transgression!” he snarled. All of a sudden he hissed as a surprise burning sensation hit the back of his neck. He turned to see Shura a few paces behind him. Glaring at him as she held a sword in one hand and a squeeze bottle full of holy water in the other. “Back off,” she said, “I don’t care what you do later, but for now, you ain’t allowed to touch him.”  
The four teenagers and Even Envy looked confused by this. “Uhh Al?” Edward asked, “Care to explain why she’s defending the homunculus that ATE us?”  
“Well…”Al said, scratching the back of his head, “It’s a little complicated...she kinda had to promise to protect him to lead us here…”  
“Ok…?” Bon responded.  
The demon laughed. “And what makes you think I’m going to bow to your will?” he snarled. He tried to show as much confidence as he could. Although he knew this woman was a powerful exorcist, he could not show any weakness to her. Besides, he still had his secret weapon prepared for her.   
“But you will bend to mine,” Father’s voice boomed. All eyes were on him. Ed’s eyes widened in shock. Was that?...No...It couldn’t be...could it? If so, and he really was this Father guy then did that make Envy and Gluttony his….Oh god he didn’t even want to think about that!   
“They are my children, Astaroth. As my servant you shall not punish them or bring harm to them unless I say so. You are not to attack anything until I give the order,” his voice was serious and his eyes narrowed on the demon, “Do you understand me?”   
It was at that moment that the rage flooded out of him. He had overstepped his boundaries. Very, very far. He had let himself slip in his rage and now was in danger of ruining everything he had worked for. “My sincerest apologies, my dear master,” he responded, backing away from both gluttony and Shura and releasing the homunculus, “I deeply apologize. please forgive my actions. I was only worried that he had harmed the sacrifices.”  
Father narrowed his eyes before shifting his eyes towards the four teenagers. stepped forward, walking towards them as Alphonse helped them each up. As they noticed him moving towards them, they each tensed, watching him carefully. Shura shifted and moved forward so that her sword was facing towards the man who was most likely also a homunculus, ready to fight. “So these are the sacrifices?” he question, “I know one of them is the satanic child...but what of the others…”  
“Hohenheim?” Ed questioned, “What the hell are you-” He stopped as the man got closer and he noticed how pale the man was and how light his hair was. That couldn’t be him…  
“Do you know this guy, Ed?” Rin questioned.  
“I thought I did but no, it’s not him…” Ed responded, “Thankfully…” Despite how he hated the man, finding out he was not actually the evil behind this gave him some relief.   
“Ed? As in Edward Elric?” the man questioned, before looking between him and Alphonse, “So you are the elric brothers….” He then turned to Rin. “And I assume the one with the tail is one of the twins.” “Now what was that name you mistook me for? Hohenheim?” the man seemed to stroke his chin before something seemed to click into place in his mind, “Wait a moment, do you mean Van Hohenheim?” When Ed and Al shifted in surprise, he took that as a yes. “How is it that you know him?” he questioned.  
“He’s our father…” Ed said carefully, “How is it that you know him?”  
He ignored the question entirely. “You’re his progeny?” Father exclaimed before surprising them all by smiling and laughing, “Of course you are you look just like him!” He moved to examine Ed’s face, making the teen very uncomfortable. “Wait then, why is your last name Elric, then?” he babbled on.  
Rin and the other teens were just as confused by this whole situation. Just who the heck was this guy? He was supposed to be evil right? He turned to Ling for answers but the teen was sending the man a death glare. “You ok, dude?” He whispered.  
Ling shook his head no and gripped his sword. “There is something very, very, wrong with that being…” he growled quietly.  
Shura also watched the strange interaction curiously from where she was. She would almost find it amusing if this wasn’t the same man who had summoned a demon king and had done who know’s how many other horrible things. Still…  
“So...that’s the dweeb you take orders from?” she remarked.  
The demon glared at her. “Silence your tongue before I cut it out,” Astaroth growled, “As soon as he gives me the order I will thoroughly enjoy skinning you alive and turning you into bookbinding.”  
“mmHMMm,” she responded, not even batting an eyelash at him.  
…She couldn’t help but have a little fun with this.   
Bon tried to piece together what exactly was going on in this strange interaction in his head. Who was this guy? Why did he look so much like their dad? And the thing is, he knew their dad, and apparently had a close relationship of some kind if he was acting like this. Finally he had enough. He wanted answers. “You never answered his question,” Bon said standing, “Just who are you? What are you? Are you a human? Are you a demon?”  
However the man paid him no mind. “Your arm is broken,” he noted, grabbing Ed’s forearm as he tried to pull away. He began examining it.  
This angered Suguro further. “DON’T IGNORE ME, DAMN IT! I’M STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!” he shouted, “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”  
Father barely glanced his way before proceeding to take a firm hold of Ed’s arm. All of a sudden, red sparks came off from his hand. Ed gasped and pulled away. “My arm…” he breathed in disbelief, “It’s not broken anymore…” He stretched it and moved his wrist and fingers. Bon and Rin stared, mouths hanging open slightly.  
“And your hand is missing,” Father said turning to Alphonse. He tapped the portion that had been cut off, and instantly, red sparks flew away, recreating the missing piece of armor out of thin air.  
Every human present was gobsmacked by this. Shura watch this with a grim look on her face. Just how much power did this man have.   
“Do you take back what you said, human?” Astaroth said in a snarky tone.  
She glared at him. “He may be powerful but he’s still a dweeb,” she responded with a smirk causing the demon to glare at her.  
Rin and Bon watching a mix of awe and fear as Father healed the rest of Ed’s wounds. “Well...he’s definitely not human…” Rin whispered.  
“More like a deity of some kind…” Bon muttered darkly. This was what they were up against? He felt his stomach fill and sicken with doubt. He didn’t even think a hundred full exorcists could stop him…  
“And now for you…” Father said before pulling Rin over to him. “Hey! Don’t-” Rin started but stopped as he touched Rin’s side. His skin tingled as the mostly healed wounds stitched themselves back together. Rin immediately jumped away, as if he had been shocked. “Don’t ever do that again! That was weird!” he snapped as he patted himself down to assure himself that no organs had been taken from him or anything. Instead, he was both delighted and slightly confused to find the bruises he had acquired in the fight with Envy were gone.  
“How interesting…” Father said stroking his chin, “I could tell those wounds you had were healing at a rapid pace, even before I touched you. Could that be because of your demon bloodline?”  
Rin backed up from him. “What’s it to you?”he questioned, “What do you care if I’m a quick healer? We’re enemies or whatever, right?”  
“It does not matter whether you consider me an enemy, I consider you three to be vital resources, and as such must keep you alive and healthy for you to be useful to me,” Father explained.  
Those words caused a big red flag to go off in Bon’s head. If he only cared about them because they were vital resources, what did that mean for the rest of them?  
Rin backed up eyes never leaving Father as he scooched closer towards Ed and Al. “I don't like this,” he said, “I’m getting a pretty big Hansel and Gretel candy witch vibe from this guy. Next thing you know he’ll be pulling out a recipe book for alchemist pot pie.”  
“I don’t think he wants to kill us, but I get what you mean,” Ed said, “Whatever this guy wants from us, can’t be good. But I want to know how he was able to fix us like that.  
“He healed our wounds…” Al said, “but he did so without a transmutation circle or anything. There wasn’t any equivalent exchange at all!”  
“He didn’t heal mine…” Ling pointed out, stepping forward and gripping his side.   
“Or Mine,” Bon added as he stood up.  
“Hey!” Ed called, “If you want to keep us happy like you said, then heal our friends!”  
Father raised an eyebrow. “And why would I do that?” he questioned, “They are of no use to me. Infact, one of them could even prove to be trouble for what I have planned.” His eyes fell directly on Bon and the teen felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was if he was analyzing him for all of his faults. He moved into a more defensive stance, cursing at himself for not bringing the stone bat with him.  
Ling scoffed at him, pointing his sword. “You’re the kind of person who looks down on humans and considers them fools, aren’t you?” he said with contempt.  
Father raised an eyebrow at him. “If you see an ant on the side of the road, do you stop to consider them a fool?” he questioned, “I am so far above you humans that judging you would be a waste of my energy.”  
Rin growled at him, his fists shaking. How dare he insult his friends! “Oh yeah, well Bon was more capable of handling a few pesky demons than your big green monster of a kid over there!” he said causing Envy to stand up and growl at him, “The guy also had his ass handed to him by us too in the woods, hows that for a bunch of humans?”  
“You’ll pay for that you little bastard!” Envy roared, his giant tail lashing, “I’m gonna-”  
“Envy stop,” Father said, holding a hand up, “You know very well you aren’t allowed to kill him.” Envy slumped his shoulders. Rin smirked before Father spoke again. “However, the rest of the humans besides the two sacrifices are mere pests,” he said, “Astaroth, would please get rid of them?”he called.  
All the teen’s smiles fell and their stomachs twisted as they heard the demon’s devilish laugh. Shura jumped out of the way before he could strike her, her sword at the ready. “Finally!” he exclaimed, a wicked grin curling across his face, “I thought you might never ask!” He snapped his fingers, and all of a sudden, dozens of pairs of eyes glowed from behind the large metal pipes in the room. “Come out sweeties! It’s snack time!” he sneered, grin never leaving his face.


	61. Thy ambition

“He’s not there?” Shima repeated.  
“No, why would he be?” Izumo asked, as if it were obvious, “He was supposed to be with you at that guy with the glasses’ place.”  
“Well, obviously he isn’t here, and he wasn’t with Konekomaru, so I thought he might have ended up with you guys,” Shima explained, “You sure you haven’t seen him?” He was starting to get really worried. It was almost nine in the morning and they still had not heard anything from Bon. On top of that, trying to call Roy at the office and at home had been a bust. Maes had headed off to work an hour ago to see what was up. Hopefully they’d hear from him soon…  
“No, we’ve been more than a little busy here, you know!” Izumo said raising an eyebrow, “Even if we’re only pretending to be gardeners we still have to do real gardening work! And it doesn’t help that the Armstrongs have exotic pets roaming their land. I almost got bit by a flamingo today while weeding the hydrangeas! A flamingo!”  
Shima moved away from the speaker and winced at the tone of her voice. “Well, it can’t be that bad, I mean, you’ve got shiemi and she’s like an expert with plants…” he tried to assure.  
“She got stuck in a tree for an hour when a secretary bird and two peacocks chased her around the garden,” Izumo stated bluntly, “Yeah, a real big help she’s been.”  
“I see….” Shima said, “Well can you call as soon as possible, alright?”  
“Fine,” Izumo sighed, “But you’re probably just better off-Oh god no…”  
Shima raised an eyebrow as he hear a faint screaming in the background and the sound of someone running. “What? What’s wrong? Is there a demon attack?” Shima frowned. Is that what happened to Bon and Shura? Were they picking them off one by one now?  
“I wish, those damn peacocks found Shiemi again…” she growled. He heard a thump of what he assumed was her head hitting the wall the phone was attached to or the desk it was possibly sitting on. “Can’t talk anymore. Gotta save the scaredy cat from those hell birds,” she muttered, clearly hating the thought of doing so. She then slammed the phone on the receiver, leaving Shima with a dial tone.  
He sighed and flopped into the couch. This was really starting to worry him, but he didn’t know what he could do. Bon was one of his closest friends, but at the same time if this was something that even Bon couldn’t handle then he would surely die if he tried to rescue him or something. He’d rather not be almost ripped apart by demons again, thank you very much. Sorry Bon. Still...that didn’t stop him from worrying….  
“Shima! Shima come here!” he heard little elicia call. He raised an eyebrow curiously in the direction of the stairs. He had been relegated to babysitting her today, but he left her in her room to play for a little while while he called his friends. It’s not like she could hurt herself in her own room when she was still learning how to stand back up again. She hadn’t fallen, had she?”  
“Shima, come hereeeee!” She demanded.  
“Alright! Alright! Hold your horses kiddo,” he said as he pushed himself off the couch and began climbing up the stairs to her. When he opened up the door, he saw her smiling up at him holding the cat sidhe in her arms.  
“Look, look, look!”she said, holding him up, “He’s back!”  
Shima blinked in surprise. “Oh, that’s good…” he said scratching his head before sitting down next to her. If he was back, that meant that whatever Rin had needed him for was done. That mean he and Bon were safe, right? Shima smiled. Yeah. They must be….  
….  
Bon narrowly dodged a ghoul going for his throat by bending backwards before sending it flying across the room. He then picked up a pipe off the ground and used it to hit the imp like figure that came at his side. Damn it...there were so many of them, and he didn’t even know what some of them were, let alone their fatal verse. There was a hiss as something brown and fuzzy attempted to jump him from behind. He turned to hit it, but with a flash of blue it was cut clean in two, the halves burning up in blue fire as they split apart. The cause of the fire stood in front of him: Rin okumura wielding kurikara.  
“Thanks,” Bon said with a nod.  
“No problem,” he responded with a smile. They both returned to fighting ghouls and gremlins, back to back as the creatures surrounded them. “Damn it, there’s so many of them!” Rin said, gritting his teeth.  
“Well, we did end up in the lair of a demon king,” Bon pointed out. He batted an enrage ball of frizz through the air. It hit a pipe before falling to the ground. Bon smirked momentarily.  
“True,” Rin said as he cut a ghoul in half, “Don’t you have some chant or something that can help us or something?”  
“Wish I did, but sorry, no,” he responded, as one tried to jump on him but bit into the pipe instead. “I have no idea what half of these things even are,” he said as he punted it away.  
Rin growled. “Well we have to do something about this swarm! It’s nuts!” All of a sudden a clap resounded through the giant room. Five ghouls who were leaping through the air right for them were suddenly crushed between two slabs of rock. Rin and Bon turned to see Alphonse with hands to the ground before he looked up and gave him a thumbs up. Rin returned it before a rat creature of some kind jumped on his head.  
“Rin!” Bon and Al cried he stumbled. Thankfully, Rin managed to pull it off and throw it away setting it on fire as he did so.  
“I’m fine, I’m fine…” he said, before his head popped up, “Wait where’s Ling and Ed?” They had all gotten split up in the madness.  
“Brother’s fighting father,” Alphonse said before dodging a dark mass that came flying at him, “But I don’t know where Ling is…”  
“There!” Bon shouted, pointing over Rin’s shoulder. The young prince was currently dodging both gluttony and several hellhounds. The poor boy could only weave and duck (albeit gracefully) out of the way of their attacks, as there were too many foes to face to make a counter.  
Rin barred his teeth. “HEY!”he shouted, “Leave him ALONE!” He swung his sword like a baseball bat, sending a wave of fire rocketing through the air towards the group. Bon and Al gasped and Rin felt his stomach sink as the fire headed not just toward the demons and gluttony, but also Ling.  
“LING LOOK OUT!” Bon shouted at the top of his lungs. The Xingese prince opened his eyes to see the roaring flames coming straight for him. He ducked as all the demons and the one homunculus were sent flying back by the blast. From his place on the ground, he gave a shaky thumbs up. Bon, Rin, and Al breathed a sigh of releif before Bon hit Rin over the head. “YOU IDIOT!”he snapped, “Those flames can kill, dumb ass!”  
“OW!” Rin complained, “I’m sorry, ok! I wasn’t thinking!”  
“Well next time-WOAH!” Bon was suddenly snatched up in the air by a large creature made of bones and animal skins sewn together like patch work. Bon hung in it’s crocodile jaws as it crained it’s long snake like neck high above them.  
“BON!” Rin and Al shouted.  
“LET GO OF HIM, MONSTER!” Ling cried, rushing forward with his sword. The creature saw him and attempted to run away, but stopped dead in its tracks as a red blurr leaped through the air and slashed its neck in half, causing the body to run off and Bon to fall to the ground with a thud.  
The blur landed in a crouch and shura stood up, dusting herself off. “No time for chatter!”she said, “We need to get out of here now! Start carving your way to the exit!” She pulled out two hand sized. True cross symbols and pressed a button on each of their centers before tossing them to Bon and Ling. “These are blessed. They should be able to slash though these guys like butter,” she said, “Get Ed and get out of here! I’ll hold the demon king off until you get to the exit.”  
“What about you?!” Al said, “We aren’t leaving you! They’ll kill you!”  
She smirked. “Relax kid, you think my sword is the only trick I have up my sleeve?” She said.  
“To be fair, you don’t have any sleeves,” Ling responded.  
She glared at him. “Hey, nows not the time to be a wise guy, princey,” she said, “Get Ed and scram as fast as you can. That’s an order. If you disobey it and they don’t end up killing you, I’ll make you wish they had, got it?” The teens nodded before Shura returned the nod and headed off to take on another monster, hacking and slashing her way through the horde.  
With that, the four turned to go find Ed. They fought their way through dozens of demons to see him using alchemy to bend the metal in the pipes to trap Father, however, every movement he made seemed to counter those attacks. It was astonishing. He didn’t even need to touch the metal to use his alchemy. “Is that normal to be able to do that?” Bon questioned.  
“Our form of alchemy isn’t even normal!” Al breathed. Finally, Father seemed to be tiring of this game and he swept his hand through the air causing a pillar to push Ed backwards and send him flying.  
“Brother!” Alphonse cried, running to catch him like a football while Rin followed behind. Ed landed hin his arms with an “oof!” and a groan of pain. “Sorry,” Alphonse apologized, having forgot his arms were made of metal for a moment, “Are you alright?”  
“I’m fine…” he hissed as he got out of Al’s arms and got to his feet, “But he...He transmuted by barely moving...It’s like he’s performing alchemy with his mind.” He glared at the man in a mix of anger and slight fear. “How is that even possible?” He questioned.  
“No time to figure it out!” Bon said as he and Ling started running for the exit, “Shura said we have to get out of here now!” However, they were halted as a line of giant mushroom demons with gaping maws sprouted up from the ground.  
They readied their weapons again and Edward and Alphonse got ready to clap. “Not so fast,” Father suddenly spoke up as he move his foot. As it touched the ground again, a great tremor shook the entire area. The five teens fell to their knees and Shura had to stop in her fighting leaning on her sword for support. It was so powerful, it felt like the ground was going to fall out beneath them. Once it had settled, They all at their for a moment. Everything was fine, but something...something was clearly off still. Ed and Al could feel it. So could Rin, but what was it?  
“What the hell was that?” Shura questioned. The man made the ground beneath them shake! Just how much power did he have?! She didn’t have time to think about that as she heard Astaroth’s low laughter. She growled and turned towards him. She had bigger concerns at the moment. If she could just get rid of him this whole thing could be over.  
“Hello miss Kirigakure…” he sneered, “I’m so glad you stopped for a visit.”  
“You won’t be when I’m done with you!” She growled changing forward. He expertly dodged her, but surprisingly didn’t try to make a counter attack. She raised an eyebrow as she turned to face him again. His arms were folded behind his back. Just what exactly was he planning?  
Meanwhile Ed and Al got over their initial shock from the quake and tried again to transmute their way out of here...only to be met with another shock. When their hands touched the ground, nothing happened. “What the-” Ed balked before trying again, “I can’t- I can’t transmute!”  
Rin, Bon, and Ling turned to him in surprise. “What, seriously?!” Rin cried.  
“Neither can I!” Alphonse confirmed.  
“What the hell is going on?!” Ed demanded. Before anyone could do anything else, Envy suddenly slammed two of his feet down upon the elric brothers forcing them down to the ground!  
“Ed!” “Al!” Bon and Ling called together, about to run towards them before suddenly being scooped up by two rotten, tree-trunk sized vines. They squeezed tight around them forcing the air out of their lungs.  
“LEAVE THEM ALONE!” Rin shouted, about to run forward and slash them free. However, he was suddenly slammed in the back by Envy’s tail, knocking him over and sending his sword skidding away. The giant monstrosity then slammed his foot on top of him preventing him from getting up.  
“Let me go!” he demanded trying to push himself up.  
“What's going on?!” Ed questioned again, trying to transmute still. Envy laughed at the both of them, drawing Shura’s attention.  
The Exorcist turned to them, worry in her eyes as she did so. She was about to abandon her fight to come help them when all of a sudden Astaroth jumped in front of her, grinning a wide, toothy grin at her. “Out of my way demon,”she said, slashing at him. He jumped back slightly, just out of the way of her blade, but his smile never faltered.  
“Oh, leaving so soon?” he said, continuing to stand in front of her path, “But I had something extra special to share with you. I prepared it just for you.” She didn’t have time to question what he meant before he snapped his fingers. The ground began to shake again, this time much more violently, causing her to fall onto one knee. Her eyes widened as the ground began to crack behind her.  
“What’s happening?!” Rin demanded, straining himself to see what was going on.  
Envy cackled again. “Would you like to watch?” the homunculus taunted before sitting on his haunches and lifting the Elric brothers and Rin up see what was going on.  
They all watched As something beat against the ground behind Shura slowly pushing it up and out like a bird hatching from an egg.  
“SHURA!” Al shouted as he fought against the monster’s grip.  
“GET OUT OF THERE!” Edward finished, also squirming.  
Finally something burst forth from the concrete, causing an explosion of dust. Shura coughed and shielded her eyes as she stood back up, ready to fight, but when the smoke cleared, she gaped at what she saw. There were three giant, green monstrosities, all only a little smaller than envy. Their bodies were like sacks full of liquid, bright green and slimey. Four limbs stuck out on each side, rubber like and ending in either a proportionally sized human hand or foot. Their faces were human-like but the skin seemed to be stretched over them tightly. They all stank like the dead, which the teems could smell from where they were.  
“Oh god, what is that?!” Ed demanded covering his mouth. He felt like he was going to throw up.  
“Necrophages…” Bon answered in horror. His eyes were wide and he looked sick to his stomach, though whether that was from fear or the stench he couldn’t tell.  
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” Astaroth proclaimed cheerily, sticking a finger in the air, “That is correct dear boy! I was up all night preparing them just for you my dear. Please do let me know what you think of them. Normally they feed on the dead, but I think they’ll find you just as tasty.”  
They roared at her and licked their lips. Shura took a few cautious steps back, biting her lip, wiping the blood off of her face, and readying her sword. However, they were too fast for her. In an instant one had scooped her up in its grubby hands. Her sword arm was caught at her side as it held her aloft in its tight grip. “Devour the Seven...Princesses,” she tried to say as she reached down, just barely brushing her sword with her other hand in doing so, but was cut off as the beast squeezed her so that she cried out in pain.  
“SHURA!!!” they all cried out at once.  
“LET HER GO!” Rin demanded thrashing in Envy’s hand.  
“PLEASE JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!” Alphonse begged. They all tried to fight against the snares they were trapped in to no avail.  
“Hold on Shura!” Ed said, “We’ll-”  
But it was too late. The creatures began descending back into the hole they came out of. She herself was now fighting against them, kicking and thrashing as they dragged her down into the darkness. A minute passed and a great bellowing came from the beasts and echoed off the walls for a moment, but then fell deathly silent.  
They all stared at the hole in horror. Bon felt something hollow inside his chest, and a sickness in his stomach. He would have heaved if his stomach wasn’t empty. Ling felt a cold feeling run down his spine as he couldn’t sense anything beyond the demonic presences in the room and the three other humans with him.  
The three in Envy’s grip weren’t that much better off. Rin was completely frozen. His jaw was locked open in shock and a look of horror. Ed and Alphonse stared on as well practically shaking their heads in denial. “Miss Shura…” Al whispered, “She’s...She’s…”  
“You MONSTER!” Edward wheeled onto Father, turning the best he could, “YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER, YOU-” He was cut off as he was slammed to the ground by envy.  
“That’s enough,” Father responded, his voice cold and uncaring. Edward stared up at him, fire in his eyes. He wished he could stand up and just tear him apart. Throw him to those monsters, but he could barely move a muscle.  
“How could you just let him kill her like that?!” Alphonse demanded, “You’re sick! You’re as much of a demon as he is!” Gesturing to Ataroth.  
“I’ve told you before, I only care for what are resources to me,” he answered simply, “Not only was she of no use, but she was a pest at best and a threat at worst. Her death was inevitable.”  
Rin was still silent from where he was on the floor, but now he could feel his rage boiling up inside him. He hated him. He hated him he hated him he hated him… smoke began curling off of him as he bore holes into the back of Father’s skull with his eyes.  
“Speaking of pests…”Astaroth’s voice chimed in as she strolled up to the two vines holding Bon and Ling, “What would you like me to do with these?” He lowered the vines to squish their faces in his hands.  
“Hmmmm…”  
“DON’T TOUCH THEM!” Rin snarled, attracting attention back to himself. His eyes were red and thrashed about. The smoke curling off of him turned to flames and Envy yelped and flinched as his hand was signed, causing Rin to escape. The flaming child lunged for Astaroth, his clawed hands aiming for his throat. However, he was stopped dead in his tracks by thick vines grabbing him and pulling him to the ground. Trying to escape his newly formed prison, Rin twisted and tried to pull himself out by his fingernails, growling at the demon as he did so.  
Astaroth gave him an uninterested look before picking up the holy dagger Ling had dropped and forcing it through Rin’s left hand. The boys gasped in horror as Rin screamed in pain before falling silent.  
“Rin?” Ed called to him, “Rin are you alright?! Rin!” Rin only lifted his head in response, letting out a strangled noise as he bit his lip.  
“Sorry about having to damage him,” the demon king said, wiping his hands, “But that should keep him subdued for now…” “So what it’s going to be for these two?” He asked, turning back to Father.  
“I think…” he said, zeroing in on Ling, “One of them may prove useful to me….” He approached him and examined him. “Yes...I think it’s about time I added another pawn in rotation…” he thought aloud, stroking his beard, “but keep the other alive for now...just in case.”  
Envy’s attention shifted from nursing his injured paw to look at his father in surprise. “You’re really gonna do that?” he questioned. Father’s only response was to tap his own forehead, causing a third eye to appear and leak something red into his palm.  
“What?” Ed questioned, looking up at Envy with an intense, demanding look, “What is it?! What is he planning to do with Ling?!”  
The homunculus chuckled. “When a philosopher’s stone is added to the blood stream, a human based homunculus is formed,” he explained with a grin, “...However, usually the body rejects the stone and the host dies in the process…” Ed’s widened in horror at this.  
“A philosopher’s stone?” Ling whispered.  
“NO!” Ed shouted, still trying to fight, “Don’t do it!” Father payed him no mind as he ripped off Ling’s bandage covering to wound on his cheek to open it up. “Why isn’t this working?!” Ed cried as he once again, desperately tried to free himself with his alchemy over and over again.  
“Stop it!” Rin growled weakly, trying to force himself up,”I’m warning you! Don’t touch him. He gripped the dagger in his hand and tried to pull it out, but doing so just caused a worse pain. It rippled through his whole body, causing him to cry out again.  
Bon watched in slack jawed horror. There was nothing he could do he could barely move and had no weapons. Still he couldn’t just watch him die. As Father hovered over Ling’s face, he suddenly kicked the man, causing him to drop the stone on the ground.  
He immediately regretted his action as now all eyes were on him. Father raised an eyebrow and glared at him as he went to pick up the stone. “Do you wish to be the first test subject instead?” he questioned as he looked the boy dead in the eye. He couldn’t tell if that was a threat or a genuine question, and he was too scared to respond.  
“DON’T!” Ling suddenly cried, “GIVE IT TO ME! NOT HIM!”  
Everyone looked at him in surprise.  
Bon blinked at him in confusion, his fear dissipating for a moment. “Are you insane?!” he barked, “He’s going to turn you into one of them!”  
Ling turned to him with a serious look in his eye. “This is my only chance to get a philosopher’s stone! I won’t allow any of you to interfere!” he turned back to Father, “Please, I will accept the full consequences of this, so long as you give me that stone! I’ve crossed deserts, survived assassination attempts, I can handle whatever you throw at me!” Father and Astaroth exchanged curious looks.  
“Don’t Ling! Don’t let him do this too you!” Rin said trying to force himself up again.  
“Ling! Think about what you're doing!” Ed shouted.  
“Stay out of this!” Ling snapped before turning back to father, “Go ahead and do it already! I need that stone!”  
Astaroth laughed. “Oh isn’t this adorable,” he chuckled, “I’ve never heard of someone begging to be possessed before, but I suppose nothing’s impossible. I say humor him and give him the first go.” He then turned to Ling. “Just remember little human, no matter what happens, you picked this poison,” he whispered with an evil grin before backing off.  
With that father dropped the semi liquid stone into his cut and it was absorbed into his skin. Almost immediately ling began screaming in agony as red lightning engulfed him. The vine dropped him and his body twisted and contorted in unnatural ways. “LING!” his friends cried as he began coughing up blood. Rin once again tried to free himself but he was stopped by the prince himself.  
“DON’T!”he growled out, giving a pained and manic smile, “I know what I’m doing! You’re looking at the at the future ruler of Xing!” He then doubled over and began screaming and twisting again. His friends could only watch in horror as he was tortured by the stone. Finally, it stopped as the lightning fizzled out.  
They all watched with wide eyes as he slowly regained normal posture and stood up, rubbing the back of his neck as if it were sore. The whole room was silent.  
Bon studied his features, looking for any evidence of change. He looked normal...And his wounds were entirely healed. Was he...ok?  
“Ling?” Ed questioned. Said prince gave him a confused look, as if he didn’t recognize him.  
“Huh?” he responded in a much deeper, unfamiliar voice. Their collective stomachs sank. “Oh, do you mean that kid I took this body from?” “Ling” responded before smirking. “Sorry,” he said, opening his eyes and slowly unwinding the bandage on his hand revealing an Ouroboros tatoo, “But your friend just checked out and left greed this body!”


	62. Tiger-footed Rage

Everyone stared in silence. They couldn’t believe it. He still looked like Ling, but obviously was not. His once dark grey eyes were now red. His crooked grin was filled with sharp teeth, and his voice was like it belonged to someone entirely different. Bon stared in shock. He had no idea how to respond. He had never witnessed someone being possessed before, by demon or by homunculi. He felt his whole body become cold. He had just watched it happened, powerless to do anything to stop it. Now there was something inside him that called itself greed that was controlling him like a meat puppet. Bon shook his head. There’s no way this is what he had actually wanted, right? Was Ling even still in there? Was he being suppressed or had this Greed person consumed his soul somehow? Or was this some side of ling they had never seen before that had been brought out by this madman?  
Meanwhile, Rin and Ed were having very different reactions to this. As soon as they heard the word “Greed” their eyes flashed with recognition and they shared looks of both confusion and curiosity.   
“Wait a minute...Greed?” Edward repeated.  
“Like the one we met back in Dubith?” Al added.  
Bon snapped out of his shock for a moment. “I’m sorry but what the hell are you talking about?” he questioned.  
“We met a homunculus named Greed back in Dublith,” Rin explained, “But wait, does that mean you were in cahoots with this Father guy the whole time?! But wait...the Devil’s Nest...Then why did the army attack-”  
“Sorry, that ain’t me,” he said, “I don’t know anything about a place called Dublith.”  
“Liar!” Rin snapped, “You kidnapped me and stole my sword!” ‘I hope he’s not expecting it back anytime soon,’ Rin thought to himself, remembering Greed’s “deal” with him.   
“If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve just been created. I haven't done anything yet,” the new Greed explained giving him an annoyed look before turning to father. “Hey, Pops! Do you have any clue what they’re talking about?” he asked.  
“The Greed they are talking about was my avarice before you,” Father stated matter of factly.  
“Ahhh…” Greed uttered, nodding in understanding as he rubbed the back of his neck, “that makes sense.” Although to every human in the room it made absolutely no sense.  
“But...Ling…” Edward started.  
“He was an interesting kid,” Greed said smirking as he moved away, “He gave up his body without a struggle.” Everyone gave looks of shock Ed’s eyes flashed with anger but before he could speak, Rin did so for him.  
“Liar!” he shouted, “Ling...Ling wouldn’t just give up! He wouldn’t!” He began struggling again, gripping the knife. “Get out of him!” Rin demanded, “Get out of him right now before I kick your ass out!”  
Greed laughed and whistled. “You almost had me scared for a moment there kid,” Greed said smirking, “But I ain’t leaving, and you wanna know why? Cause as soon as I told him to hand over his body to me he said and I quote, ‘take it, it’s yours’.” Rin gave a look of betrayal and stopped for a moment. “He pretty much gave this body to me as a gift! It’s mine now. End of story. Ya got that?”   
It made Bon sick to his stomach to hear that monster talk about Ling like that. However, it made him feel even worse thinking about that maybe he was right. Ling wasn’t just being self sacrificing for his sake. He acted like he knew what he was doing...even if he may not really have. Still, he’d be damned if he just let him do whatever he wanted with Ling’s body.   
“Even if you did manage to kill me, you would just end up doin’ him in in the process,” Greed said with a shrug, “So you might as well-”  
“You’re wrong,” Bon piped up. Greed raised an eyebrow and turned on his heel to face him. “Maybe you aren’t technically a demon, but you’re still possessing him. And if there anything us exorcists are good at, it’s getting rid of parasites like you who think they’re invincible because they managed to take over a human skin. And trust me buddy, I’ll make sure that happens.” It was a partial bluff, and he knew that. He didn’t know where to begin with getting rid of Greed, hell he might not even live long enough to start, but that wasn’t going to stop him from at least trying to make a stand against this mess.   
Greed stared at him, blinking before laughing and clapping his hands. “Ooo! I like this one!” he said walking up to look him in dead in the eye, “He’s got some guts, I’ll give him that.” He then stuck his hand on his head and messed up his hair. “Aaand a great sense of style. Really digging the piercings there, kid,” he noted, turning Bon’s face with one hand. The teenager glared at him, hatred clear in his eyes. “Not to sound ungrateful, but is it too late to switch bodies?” he asked, “Or maybe I could keep this one around for a while….”  
“Absolutely not!” Astaroth hissed, “He is a threat to our entire operation.” Rin, Ed, and Al suddenly tensed as his voice broke through the slight calm that had settled.  
“He is indeed a threat,” Father confirmed, “Keeping him alive could only cause trouble for us.”  
Greed looked disappointed but shrugged. “Alright then. Whatever you say,” he complied, backing up, “Sorry kid, but I don’t make the rules around here. It was nice meeting you….” He gestured for him to say his name. The teen just gave him a extremely annoyed and wrathful look. “...yellow mohawk kid,” he continued when he didn’t get a response, “I’ll keep your sense of style and rudeness alive in my memories.”  
“Astaroth, if you would please,” Father said, gesturing to to the demon. He cracked a crooked smile causing a sharp chill to run up the remaining teen’s spines.  
“With pleasure!” the demon responded, cracking his knuckles as he slowly approached Bon. The boy’s eyes widened once again in horror and he began struggling again as the demon approached, chuckling.  
Ed and Rin bore similar expressions. “No…” Al whispered before his voice rose, “No don’t! Don’t touch him!” He and Ed began desperately trying to pull themselves out from under Envy, but obviously, the demon paid them no mind.  
Rin gritted his teeth as he fought through the pain and tried to pull the dagger out of himself. “Leave him alone….” he growled, feeling a burning sensation in his belly. He couldn’t let this happen again. He couldn’t let another friend die. It was his fault Bon was in this mess. He was the one who tried to go after Gluttony. Shura had already died trying to protect him by this demon’s hands. He’d be damned if he’d let this monster take another one of his friend’s lives. The burning rage in his stomach began to boil over and he struggled more as the demon got closer to bon. “I said….LEAVE. HIM. ALONE!” Rin shouted, ripping the dagger out of the back of his hand.   
Blue flames once more erupted from his body, destroying his biodegradable prison in seconds. Astaroth barely had time to turn around in surprise before Rin had run up and decked him in the face, sending him flying.  
The homunculi and Bon were taken aback by this. Most of them hadn’t seen such strength from the boy yet. Envy’s mouth even hung open slightly (although that was more for the fact that the kid actually dared to straight up punch the demon in the face) and Greed whistled again. Bon just stared at the boy covered in flames, not quite sure what to do or say as he let what just happened sink in. While Ed gave a look of relief, glad that Bon was safe, Al shuddered as he saw Rin covered in the flames from head to toe, remembering the last time he had seen him like this in the lab. He wasn’t going to….No, he wouldn’t do that. His sword was still in one piece, wasn’t it? Actually...where was it?  
Astaroth quickly picked himself off the ground, his face twisted into something even more monstrous in fury. His eyes seemed to glow red instead of the usual gold or Tucker’s pale blue. He wiped the blood off his cheek and cracked his neck back into place before beginning to stomp towards Rin, preparing to grab him by the neck. “You INSOLENT. LITTLE-” he boomed, seething with rage before he was abruptly interrupted by the large double doors swinging open.   
They all turned to see what appeared to be ram/canine chimera stumble in before exploding. Once it had, three shockingly familiar figures stood at the entrance: A tall ishvalan man with an “X” shaped scar on his face, an amestrian man in white clothes with slicked-back black hair and a sword, and a small xingese girl wearing pink with her hair up in a combination of twin buns and long braids.  
Everyone stared at the intruders for a good minute and the intruders stared back possibly more confused by the scene before them: The satan child on fire(well that wasn’t that much of a surprise), another demon looked ready to kill him, fullmetal and his brother were currently being sat on my some monster, some kid with black and yellow hair was tied up in some sort of vine tree-thing, and there was a man standing around wearing a robe for some reason.  
“Well….” Dolcetto said, “This….is definitely not what I expected….Actually I’m not exactly sure what I expected.” He blinked before frowning and continuing. “But I’m definitely getting a nasty vibe from this whole place. It’s like what I felt in the tunnel times a million,” he growled. Mei nodded in agreement.   
Scar looked between them. It was then that he noticed despite his stern expression, Dolcetto’s hands were shaking and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. Mei also looked terrified, which was surprising. The girl who had taken on a whole horde of monsters looked like she might want to run. But the strangest thing was that neither of their gazes were directed on the Mustang child. They were glancing between the other demon and the man in the white robe.   
Dolcetto’s eyes were most frequently turning to the man clearly possessed by a demon. He didn’t know why, but he recognized him from somewhere, and seeing him sent a particularly icy chill up his spine.   
All of a sudden, a small furry head popped out of the suit of armor. Causing the xingese girl to gasp. “Xiao mei!” she cried, throwing her arms open wide. The tiny panda jumped out of the armor and scampered over to her, leaping into her arms.  
“I was so worried about you!” she cried.  
“Oh! Now that is a touching reunion!” Greedling said, clapping his hands.  
Rin blinked in surprise. “Wait, you brought that with you?!” Rin questioned.   
“Well I wasn’t going to just leave her alone in the forest!” Alphonse responded.  
“So…” Dolcetto began, “Does this mean we just...leave? I mean, we got what we came here for…Or do you wanna try and go after the Rin kid?”  
“Rin?!” Mei chang piped up suddenly, “As in, Rin Mustang?! The Spitfire alchemist? Where is he! Where is he! Does that mean Mr. Elric is here too?” She had stars in her eyes as she looked around.   
Dolcetto and Scar exchanged looks. Dolcetto galnced at her before looking back at him in a “Do you want to tell her?”manner. Scar slowly looked away suddenly becoming much more interested in the ceiling pipes. The dog chimera sighed. Oh dear...this wasn’t going to be fun. “Um...kid?” Dolcetto said, “Who exactly do you think we’ve been after all this time?”  
Mei blinked. “I thought you said you were after that demon, Shaitan?” she responded.  
“Yeah… well, that’s him,” Dolcetto said pointing at Rin. Rin looked from side to side before awkwardly raising his hand in a slight wave before suddenly becoming very conscious of the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt and crossing his arms over his chest.  
Mei furrowed her brow. “S-so?”she said, “What does that have to do with Mr. Mustang or Elric?” Mei was getting a sinking feeling about where this was going...  
“Well he’s also Rin Mustang,” Dolcetto explained.  
The room fell silent. The light in Mei’s eyes suddenly died as her face turned into one of shock and horror. “What?!”she questioned.  
Dolcetto winced and nodded before continuing, “And his buddy over there being sat in by the giant demon alligator-dog...thing...”  
“I’m a homunculus, you idiot,” Envy piped up, glaring at him.  
“Ok...homunculus,” Dolcetto corrected, “anyways, the guy under the homunculus is Edward Elric.”  
He glanced back at her only to have his heart string tugged on as he saw the heart broken look on her face. “B-but…” she squeaked before turning back to them. It felt like her whole perception of reality had fallen apart. This….runt was supposed to be the gorgeous Fullmetal alchemist, and that horrible horrible monster was supposed to be her dear Rin! She felt her poor heart break in two as her fantasies of two handsome boys fighting over her, taking her out for dinner, and heading out on a romantic cruise together, and possibly having a beautiful polyamorous wedding with the two of them were dashed. However, her tears quickly turned to pearls of anger. She felt like a completely fool! Neither of them were anything like how they were described. One of them was a demon for pete’s sake! She couldn’t believe she had let these two distract her thoughts from her mission! And how many poor young women might he have tricked and used with that body he was possessing? There were plenty that admired him after all.   
“You monsters!” She cried drawing a circle in the ground and digging her knives into the concrete, “How dare toy with the feelings of a maiden's heart!” She then slammed her hand into the ground.  
“Wait, wha-” was all Rin had time to say before the floor exploded with alchemic power. Everyone was sent flying by the sudden blast of rocks, even Envy and Bon, who was now free from his prison. Dolcetto and Scar had to shield themselves from the blast, and when they looked back up again they both shared mildly shocked looks. Honestly they were expecting more water works from her considering how beside herself she was when she lost her panda, but apparently not.  
The teenagers carefully scrapped themselves off the ground, rubbing their heads and backs. Rin noticed his fallen sword a short distance away and grabbed it as he got up. “Jeez what did we do to piss her off?” he questioned.  
“Never mind that!” Ed said smirking, “She used alchemy! Looks like the tides have turned.” With that, he and Al immediately clapped their hands and brought them to the ground...only for nothing to happen.   
The brother’s exchanged dumbfounded looks. “Why is it working for them and not us?” Ed questioned.  
The same question was going through Father’s mind too. How were they able to still transmute? He had changed the flow of tectonic energy! Whatever the reason may be, It posed a serious threat. “Gluttony, get rid of the outsiders!” he ordered.  
“Ok!” the homunculus chirped cheerfully before running up to attack Scar. However, he didn’t even get one bite, for when he lept at the ishvalan, he immediately grabbed him by his face and used his alchemy to crush his skull, before kicking him aside.  
It was then that Ed got an idea. If they couldn’t fight, they’d just have to convince Scar to help them. “HEY SCAR!” he called across the room, “Do you want to know who really caused the ishvalan massacre?” The Ishvalan turned to him, his brow furrowed, but interest clear in his eyes. “It was them!” he said, pointing a finger at the homunculi, “They orchestrated the whole thing, with Envy disguising himself as a soldier to shoot that child!”  
Scar’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look Father dead in the eyes. His fists were shaking and his breath was coming out is short bursts. Dolcetto and Mei both shared worried looks before looking at their friend.  
“Tell me,” he growled in a low voice that sent chills up Dolcetto’s spine, flexing the muscles in his hand as the crackled with alchemic energy, “For what reason did you see fit to slaughter my people?!” “In the end though, I suppose it doesn’t matter, because I’m damning you all to HELL!” He then slammed his fist into the ground, causing it to erupt again and throw Envy and Astaroth into a wall. Father also went flying, but managed to land safely using his alchemy.  
“THAT’S IT!” Astaroth roared, peeling himself off the wall and cracking his limbs and neck back into place. Fury was written all over his face as he glared at them. “I am DONE with this pestilence of intruders! Prepare to face the true strength of my horde!” He made his way to a lever and pulled it down, letting a gate slowly swing open. Growls, snarls, and moaning could be heard from the other side of the dark gate.  
The four teenagers felt their stomachs drop for the thousandth time that day. “Damnit…” Bon muttered searching for his dagger, “Just when I thought we were out of the woods…”  
“Any hope that this is the ‘final boss’?” Rin questioned.  
“Not a chance,” Bon grumbled in response.


	63. The Graves, All Gaping Wide

The whole room devolved into chaos again as the army of various demons crawled out of the gate like spiders, swarming the area. It felt like an endless stream. When they had beaten off one, two more had seemed to take their place. It was especially difficult for Ed and Al who unlike Rin or Bon, had no way to protect themselves. They could kick and toss them all they wanted, but that didn't really stop any of them. Ed began panting as he kicked another imp like creature in the stomach. This was becoming exhausting. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. Then, suddenly, he was tackled from behind by a pig-headed ghoul.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried, rushing over to him. There was a crowd of demons all around him. He couldn't even see Ed anymore among them.

"Please be ok! Please be ok! Please be ok!" he pleaded to himself as he pushed passed the monstrosities. However, when he made it to the front of the group, he strangely enough found none of them were trying to attack him. They just stood there, watching him carefully as the chimera-ghoul kept him pinned down. It hissed anytime he moved but didn't try to hurt him otherwise. "Brother?" he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Aside from having a nearly 200 pound weight on my back, yeah," he grunted, "Care to help?" Alphonse nodded and threw the demon off of him and across the room. This angered the others, and they suddenly launched into action, but it was then they really noticed something. There were no snapping jaws trying to rip them apart, nothing trying to strangle them or claw out their eyes. They tugged and slammed them and tried to pull them to the ground, but not one attempted to wound them in any way.

Edward was confused until he remembered what Father had said. "Al, they don't want to kill us," he said, "They're just trying to stop us from leaving!" "He turned to his brother after punching another stitched up abomination in the face. "We're too important for them to kill us," he explained, "We just need to figure out a way past 'em!"

"What about Scar and those people he was with?" Al questioned as he threw off what looked like a taxidermied nightmare that had jumped on his back, "We can't just leave them here!"

"You're right…" Edward said, grabbing another monster by its tail and swinging it around to toss it, "But we can't help them by ourselves. We need to get to Rin. Come on!" With that the two began forcing themselves through the swarm of monsters, making their way slowly over to the big blue beacon that was their friend.

Meanwhile, said boy was currently swinging away at demons like they were baseballs desperately searching for his friends. "BON!" he shouted as he sliced another in half, Leaping over the body to keep searching. He had been right beside him, now where was he?

He saw a flash of something black behind him and he quickly turn on his heels, ready to turn it into mince meat. "HRAAAAAA-" he cried as he spun around, only to freeze as he saw it was Ed and Alphonse. Both brothers balked at Rin's reaction, Ed being taken aback in surprise and Al moving in front of his brother slightly.

Rin blinked before backing up slightly sheepishly. "S-sorry…" he said, giving an awkward half-laugh, "You guys gotta warn me next time. Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Edward blinked before nodding. "Sorry," he said, "Anyways, I've got good news and bad news. Good news is these guys aren't going to try to kill us. If we can just move past them we can get out of here."

Rin sliced another gremlin in half as it leapt at him. "Could have fooled me…" Rin muttered, "So what's the bad news?"

"Bon, the girl, and the other two. Yeah they're definitely out to kill them," Ed confirmed, "We need to get them out of here as quickly as possible."

"Why didn't you say that first?! Come on!" Rin urged. With that, the reunited trio began forging their way through the pack of monsters.

….

This was bad. This was really really bad. Dolcetto had been cornered by a troupe of the monstrosities. He slashed one of them and kicked another away, trying his best to keep his distance, however, they just kept coming. He had gotten separated from Scar after the demon lost his temper and release a whole wave of these things. There was no way he could handle these things on his own. Everytime he stabbed or slashed one, even removing its head, it just got back up again! They just refused to die! He felt something sharp dig into his back and cried out in pain before reaching back to rip off a rat like creature that looked like it was made of skin and bones before throwing it aside. Two ghouls took the opportunity and tried to tackle him too causing him to stumble as he shook them off. Four more attempted and succeeded to force him to the ground with a thud, forcing the air out of his lungs.

The dog chimera wheezed as he tried to force himself up but was unable too. he could feel his heart pound against the ground as the weight of the ghouls on top of him fighting over who would get first bite. It was at that moment that he realized he was going to die. There were many moments before this when he had come close to death or thought he was going to die, some of which were in a dark, dank place like this, but never did he expect to go this way. He struggled causing the victor of the battle to dig its claws into his back. He shut his eyes tight as he could feel the beast's jaws near his neck. The rank order of the beast burned his nostrils and he could feel its drool drip onto his skin.

SHPLK

He heard a yelp of pain as the weight on top of him shifted and a cold splatter of rancid blood hit him. The weight of the heavy ghoul him before rolling off of him as he heard more snarling and howls of pain. He finally was able to turn over and was surprised to see the young boy with the yellow stripe of hair holding two daggers and fending off the demons while chanting something. Who was this kid?! He swore he had seen him before. One suddenly lunged for the boy but he jumped out of the way, stabbing the creature in the back in the process. It howled in pain before falling over, only a dead body once more.

The kid turned to him as he stared in confusion. "Hey!" he snapped, "Don't just sit there! Grab that thing and help me damn it!" he gestured to the knife stuck in the ghoul's back.

Dolcetto blinked before nodding and pulling it out as he got up. "How did it manage to kill that thing when my sword barely-" he started before being cut off.

"it's a blessed dagger," the boy explained quickly, "Now keep an eye on my back. I'm gonna be reciting and they're going to target me."

"reciting?" Dolcetto questioned, "What are you-"

He didn't answer as he started speaking. "While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.'Your daughter is dead,' they said," he recited, "'Why bother the teacher anymore?'" All of a sudden the ghouls became more agitated. Dolcetto recognized what was happening. This was like what Scar had done to save him from those hobgoblins. How was it that this kid could do what he had done?

" When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly," the kid continued. As he did so, they began trying to attack him Dolcetto quickly dispatched each one. He was surprised at how effective each strike was. Every stab and slash combined with his expertise either mortally wounded or killed each one. Only one avoided him, which the boy quickly took care of, only pausing for a moment.

"He took her by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum!'" he proclaimed loudly. Immediately the ghouls surrounding them howled in pain before collapsing to the ground, completely lifeless.

Dolcetto stood there in awe, looking around at the carnage before turning to the kid. "Just who are you?" he questioned, "How were you able to do that?"

"The name's Suguro," he said, "Ryuji Suguro, and I'm currently an exorcist in training."

Dolcetto's eyes widened. An exorcist? Like that red haired woman had claimed to be? Did that mean he was with her?

"Come on," Ryuji said, pulling Dolcetto's attention back to the task at hand. More demons had approached them. "We're not out of the woods yet," he growled. The dog chimera nodded, lowering his stance and preparing to fight.

….

Mei chang was running as fast as her feet could carry her, creating as much distance as possible between her and the pack of neberiuses. She could feel her feet getting heavier as she huffed slightly, trying to keep up the pace. Man she had really getting a workout in today fighting all these monster. Once she saw that they were a good five yards away, she grabbed her knives and drew a circle in the ground with her foot. She pulled her knives from her belt once more and flung them in the monsters direction, digging into the ground at their feet. She then slammed her hand to the ground, causing a wave of blue lightning to streak across the ground before reaching the monstrosities. They shrieked in pain as the rock floor suddenly turned to five foot spikes, impaling them all and rendering them immobile. She panted slightly before standing up again, wiping the sweat off her face. She suddenly gave a sharp cough, causing the tiny panda on her shoulder to give a look of alarm.

"Don't worry Xiao Mei," she assured, "I'm fine. It's just be the stale air getting to me a little."

Astaroth growled as he watched her from one of the pipes above. Damn these strange alchemists. She wasn't even using any exorcism techniques to defeat them like the other one was! She just ripped apart anything he threw at her with her technique. The demon ground his teeth as he contemplated what to do. He had to have some way to get rid of her….How does one take down such a powerful little girl?

His eyes gleamed and a smile split across his face as he got an idea. Of course! That would be perfect! Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? He began jumping from pipe to pipe like they were stepping stones until he found the correct lever to release it. He had borrowed it from his brother Azazel for one of the younger girl exorcists Shura had brought with her, but it would work just fine against this little girl too.

As she defeated another monster, she found herself getting more and more exhausted. She wobbled as she tried to stand up, her head feeling slightly woozy, before devolving into another coughing fit. What was wrong with her?! She hadn't felt sick at all when she woke up? But ever since she stepped into this room she began to feel worse and worse…..

"Pathetic…" a quite, feminine voice sneered.

Mei stood up straight at that, looking around. "Who's there?" she questioned.

"A little pink princess all alone in a strange country…" it continued in a patronizing tone. It was followed with echoing, mocking giggles.

She turned around, facing a dark shadow behind her. She could sense something there. "I'm not alone!" she said, "I have Xiao Mei-"

"Oh goody, you have a glorified little rat companion," it spat, enraging both the girl and the panda.

"Xiao mei is not-" she started before being cut off.

"Just look at her, pretending her little quest is anything more than a little fantasy trip," it continued, "How precious!"

Mei froze. "Wh-what?"she responded. What did the voice mean by fantasy trip.

"Poor little dear thinks she can save her clan by find the secret to immortality?" the voice continued followed by a chorus of harsh laughter, "Is she kidding herself? A little eleven year old thinks she can do what thousands of adults much older, wiser, and stronger than her couldn't accomplish? Don't make me laugh."

Those words shook her. Was she really capable of this? Was it even possible or her after so many others had failed. "I…" she started, clenching her fists, "I am not just a little girl! I am Mei Chang, future head of the Chang clan!" She held her chin up trying to hide the emotion in her voice. "And-"

"You're just a spoiled little girl galavanting across a country she barely knows anything about...all the while her people still suffer," it snapped at her, "dreaming about falling in love and other such nonsense, all the while she has no idea what she's doing! You're no closer to finding the secret to immortality that when you first started this pointless little adventure."

"I-it's not pointless! And I am closer!" she snapped back, on the verge of tears. In the back of her mind she wasn't that sure anymore. Was she any closer? Was this whole endeavor just going to be a wild goose chase? She couldn't help but feel guilty. Did her clan think she had abandoned them? And what would happen if someone found the secret before her? She felt sick to her stomach and her head had started to ache, causing her to feel even more frustrated and confused.

"Really? Do you even know what you're looking for in the first place?" it questioned but didn't give her time to respond, "You're just a stupid little girl who will just end up getting herself killed before she succeeds. You barely survived the desert after all! And what alchemist is going to want to help a girl naive enough to befriend a killer and a criminal? You might as well give up now…."

"or…." the voice said mischievously before several long, black shaddow-arms sprung from the darkness and grabbed her, causing her to shriek briefly in surprise before one wrapped tightly around her neck and silencing her. Mei gasped and struggled, kicking and tugging, but was unable to free herself. Xiao Mei tried to free her by biting them, but was quickly snatched up too. The demon that had grabbed them came into view. It was a large, hunched over creature, draped in long black hair falling limply from what should be it's head. Dozens of eyes glared at her from behind the hair and several mouths sneered and smirked at her. "better yet, I'll just get rid of you myself so you won't bring anymore shame to that pathetic little clan of yours!" it said in a sing-song tone. Mei gasped and gagged as she continued to struggle while the monster laughed.

….

Scar lept out of the way as Envy slammed his fist down on the ground, trying to crush him. He rolled to the side before slamming his hand into the ground. Electricity sparked from his tattoo into the ground, causing a spike of earth to form and impale envy in the side. The homunculus bellowed in rage and pain, thrashing as he tried to free himself.

The next moment, a ghoul attempted to jump him from behind. He quickly dodged it, dipping his hand into the remains of the jar of holy oil. When it turned to face him and tried to pounce on him again, he grabbed it by the face and used his alchemy to explode it's skull. The body fell to the ground limp. Scar began wheeling around, preparing for the next attack to come, when all of a sudden her heard the scream of a little girl.

His eyes grew wide before spinning around in the direction of the noise. "Mei?"he called. He could see her in the distance. She was being held aloft by her neck...but there was nothing holding her…He gave a look of confusion. What was attacking her? Was something lifting her through some sort of psychic powers?

He didn't get a chance to question it further before a heavy weight suddenly slammed down on his back forcing him to the ground. He tried to force himself up, but to no avail. "You know…" a voice from above him said, "I'm getting real sick of little surprises like you."

He turned his head to see the demon with rams horns sitting on top of him. "Who are you?" Scar demanded.

"I am Astaroth, demon king of rot," he responded, "A name you should learn to fear, human."

Scar glared at him. "You will not get the satisfaction of having me fear you," he hissed. That earned him a slash on the back of the neck from the demon's sharp claws.

"Though the better question is, just who exactly are you?" Astaroth questioned, glaring at him, "How is it that you know how to fight demons? Who taught you? I was unaware that there were any exorcists from this world living here."

Scar didn't respond, he was more concerned with what was happening to Mei. Her face was turning red, but he could see nothing choking her. He tried to force Astaroth off of him, but that was met with failure as his head was slammed against the concrete for trying.

"Answer my questions, human," he demanded.

"What are you doing to the girl? Release her at once!" Scar demanded in response.

This caused Astaroth to crack a smile. "Oh I'm not doing anything!" he said, "That my friend is a particular demon called a mayuko. A kind of evil spirit made of human spite that only appears to young girls and feeds on their despair and self loathing." "It will read he mind and prey on her every insecurity, ripping her apart emotionally before it does so literally. Isn't nature wonderful?" he gloated, digging his nails into the back of his skull before forcing him to look up and watch, "And it's all thanks to you! After all, you were the one who brought her down here in the first place. Well done, Ishvalan! You've successfully killed another alchemist. That is your goal after all, isn't it? To kill all those filthy alchemist's?"

Scar growled and gritted his teeth as he moved his tattooed hand, trying to press it into the ground. A few alchemic sparks fired from his palm before a sudden, searing pain shot up his arm as something pierced his bicep and forced his arm behind his back. "Ah, ah, ah!" Astaroth tutted cheerfully, "You wouldn't want to spoil the show now would you?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Scar shouted, thrashing underneath him, "I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL YOU CRAWLED OUT OF!"

"I'd love to see you try," Astaroth chuckled, "But first, you're going to watch your friend die. And I will revel in every second of it as you squir-"

All of a sudden there was a rumble from below the earth. Everything stopped for a moment. Dolcetto and Bon paused in stabbing a pig monster, Rin and the Elrics froze as they shattered several skeleton creatures, Envy, who finally freed himself, turned to look around wildly; Greed, Gluttony, and Father looked up from where they were watching the chaos in confusion. There was a loud thumping from the torn up mound of concrete Scar had created earlier. The earth shook three times as the noise resounded before finally bursting open like the top of a volcano. There was a brief moment of silence before a streak of white light shot up into the air before splitting into several beams that descended towards the ground before becoming snake like in appearance.

They began targeting demons, slamming into them and binding them tightly, causing the demons to scream in pain as they were being constricted. One slammed into Astaroth, knocking the demon king off of the Ishvalan and sending him flying back as it captured him. Another attacked the mayuko, causing her to let go of Mei and her panda as fell back into a hissing whirl of fury. Rin and the Elrics gawked, jaws hanging open as demons all around them were being captured or stuck down by the beams of light.

"What the heck is going on?" Dolcetto breathed as he looked on in both awe and fear. He turned to Bon for a possible explanation, but when he did, the boy looked shocked, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "I know this attack…" he whispered in awe, "But...no it couldn't be...could it?"

The head of a giant white snake slowly rose out of the ground. Rin, Ed, Al, and Bon felt as if they were dreaming as they saw who was standing on top of it, holding a now multi bladed sword resembling a snake. Her skin was covered in blood and chunks of rotten flesh, and her hair was now a mess, but there was no denying who it was.

"SHURAAAAAA!" Rin shouted, jumping up in glee. Smiles stretched across the boys faces, Ed pumping his fists in the air and shouting like Rin, while a look of shock and fear had spread across the demon kings'.

He grunted as he broke his bindings then standing up and adjusting his vessel's glasses. "No…." he hissed, "That's not possible! I planned this out, I saw them drag you below the earth to devour you!"

Her cold, piercing gaze moved towards the demon king, starring him down with murderous intent. The coldness turned to burning fury as she jumped down from her perch atop her familiar. She slashed through the air, sending a blast of light energy through the air and hitting the demon dead on, dragging him through the concrete, burying him in rubble, and creating a trench in its wake. The humans, chimaera, and homunculi watched in awe/horror as this occurred. Greed whistled slightly form where he was sitting on a pipe watching. She landed on her feet beside the start of the trench, glaring at where it ended.

"Something you have to know about me, demon," she growled, "There's no monster, disaster, or grave that's gonna hold this body down."


	64. Sickness in My Heart

The homunculi’s, even Father’s, jaws had collectively dropped in disbelief. For a full minute there had been no sound from anyone except a slight groan from the trench the now unconscious demon king currently resided in. Greed started to give a quiet applause, but stopped and gave a shrug as Father glared at him.   
“Shura!” Rin and Alphonse cried in unison as they and the other boys ran up to her. She barely had time to turn around before she was scooped up and squeezed by the giant suit of armor.  
“We’re so glad you’re ok!” Alphonse cheered.  
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Shura grunted, struggling against the armor, “Put me down, kid! You’re going to crush me or make me slice myself with my own sword on accident!” The boy complied and set her down. Once he had, she brushed a bit of the gunk off of herself.  
“What happened down there? We thought you were a goner for sure!” Rin asked.  
Shura scoffed in response. “Oh please, have a little more faith in me!” she said, “I wouldn’t be an exorcist worth half my salts if I couldn’t at least slice my way out of that thing’s gullet.” She gave a disgusted look as she flicked another piece of rotten flesh off of her shoulder and continued to look herself over. “God damn I’m gonna have to burn these clothes aren’t I? There’s no way I’m gonna be able to get this stink out…” she muttered. She then looked around at her surroundings a bit more with a confused expression, making eye contact briefly with Dolcetto and Scar who were still staring at her in disbelief. “Ok, what exactly did I miss?” she questioned, “I remembered a lot fewer people being in this room thirty minutes ago...and where is Ling?” Edward and Bon shared a grim look while Rin and Al looked nervous. Well that certainly wasn’t a good sign. “Boys….” she said slowly, “What. Happened. To Ling?”   
She heard a whistle from above her and turned around to see the boy sitting from a pipe. “Over here, sweetheart,” a voice that clearly was not Ling’s spoke from his mouth, “Although Ling can’t really come to the phone right now. I can take a message for him instead.” The boy suddenly jumped down from the pipe suspended over fifty feet in the air, landing perfectly on his feet. “Although I’d much rather just talk with you myself,” he continued, “The name’s Greed. Those were some sweet moves you had back there. Care to tell me how you managed to do all that?” He winked as he introduced himself. These humans were quite an interesting bunch. First the flame kid and the punk boy, now this badass beauty? He really was tempted to ask Father again to let him keep at least one for himself. If he took away their weapons he could probably handle keeping them under control….  
Shura stared at him for a solid half a minute, blinking slowly before taking a deep breath, folding her hands to her face as she did so. “Jesus Fucking Christ you guys let him get POSSESSED?!” she shouted, turning to Rin and the others as she did so, causing them to flinch.  
“Hey! We were captured by the enemy! It’s not like we had a choice in the matter,” Bon argued, “This was actually the best case scenario considering they want us DEAD.”  
“Not to butt in, but the kid did volunteer to get ‘possessed’,” Greed added, causing Shura to turn on him, “He wanted immortality or something so he willingly handed himself over to me.” He gave a shrug as he spoke.  
Shura’s eye twitched for a moment before she slapped a hand to her forehead and ran it down her face. “God fucking damnit Ling…” she growled before pointing at him, “That’s it. Ling, as soon as we figure out how to exorcise whatever it is possessing you, I’m kicking your ass!”   
“Ooo! I’d like to see you try!” Greed responded, smirking.  
Shura raised her sword at him, glaring. “I will stab you if you keep talking,” she growled at him. It was mostly a bluff, as she didn’t want to actually hurt Ling, but if he tried to taunt her again, she was definitely going to find some way to hurt him. She then sighed again. “Anything ELSE I should know about?” she asked.  
“Well, Scar and his buddies showed up and started helping us kinda,” Rin said, “I got stabbed in the hand, and Ed and Al can’t do alchemy for some reason.”  
“Wonderful,” Shura sighed in annoyance.   
Dolcetto and Scar stood there, watching the interactions, dumbstruck. They didn’t know what to say. They had just been saved by a sword toting woman in a bikini with apparently a giant pet demon snake...a woman that had been attacking them a few days ago to protect Shiatan...and now she was shouting at the demon like he was just some bratty child?! Where had she even come from? Dolcetto couldn’t really make out much of the conversation they were having from how far away they were, but she definitely seemed upset about something, particularly that weird Xingese...not that it really mattered much whether he could understand them or not. This whole situation was still insane.  
“Hey…” Dolcetto whispered to Scar, “Do you think we can just grab Mei and her pet and slip out or-”  
“Enough of this!” Father suddenly snapped, glaring down at her, “Your stay has been long over spent and I will not stand for it any longer.” “Gluttony,” he ordered, “Take care of her. Now.”  
The homunculus blinked in surprise before looking at the exorcist and hesitating. He promised her he wouldn’t hurt her, and she had protected him from Astaroth... “But…” he started, only for Father to glare at him.  
“I said NOW Gluttony!” Father demanded.   
The homunculus flinched at the tone of his voice before complying. His stomach opened up into an eye, unzipping with tusk like teeth as it did so. Dolcetto gave a look of disgust while Scar looked on in slightly horrified intrigue.   
“Sorry,” Gluttony said, “Father said I had too.”  
Rin, Ed, Bon gave looks of fear as they tried to move in front of her, but she pushed them out of the way and charged at him.  
“Shura! What are you-” Ed started but was cut off.  
“That’s too bad,” she said as she lept in the air above the homunculus. Her feet came down on his head, forcing him to the ground and getting his tusks stuck in the concrete. “Guess you’ll be disappointing daddy, then.” As she finished saying this, she heard hissing from behind her before whatever it was whizzed over her head as she reflexively ducked. The humans and half humans looked around to see the demons that hadn’t been struck down by her mass attack had begun breaking the bonds of magic that he had bound them with.  
Shura growled as she stepped off Gluttony. “Well I guess that means time's up…” she muttered, “Well looks like you’ll be getting rid of us anyways, because that’s our cue to leave. Come on you guys!” She grabbed Rin, Bon, and Ed by the arms and began dragging them away with Al trailing behind them, ducking passed any monsters that attacked them.  
She came to a screeching halt as Envy suddenly jumped in front of her path. He grinned menacingly at them before laughing. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere, you little-” he started before he was cut off by an exasperated groan from Shura.  
“For the love of God, I do not have time for this crap!”she snapped. She then let go of Ed momentarily to bring her fingers to her mouth and whistle. The giant white snake suddenly perked up and turned it’s head towards the lizard monstrosity. Envy’s eyes widened as they locked with the snake. Wait...She wasn’t-  
She didn’t even have to say anything. She just pointed at Envy and the snake instantaneously sprung into action, striking Envy and binding him up with it’s long body. The homunculus screamed and cursed as it was wrestled to the ground. The four humans and the suit of armor ran around him towards the exit. “Good boy, Naga,” Shura said as she passed by the giant snake’s head.  
They stopped short as they just passed Dolcetto and Scar. “Come on!” Bon called, “Do you want to die down here or what?”  
Dolcetto and Scar paused for a moment. This was the third time this little group had been willing to save them today. A group containing the lord of all demons and his followers. Under normal circumstances, he would seriously be questioning everything he knew. But this wasn’t normal circumstances. Things went to hell and a hand basket twenty minutes ago. His only thought now was how to make it out mostly alive. He would have jumped at the opportunity if Scar hadn’t reminded him of something very, very important.  
“Mei,” he said, looking around, “Where is she? We can’t leave without her?”  
“The little angry girl in pink?” Rin questioned.  
“There!” Bon called, pointing to a small pink figure about ten meters away. She appeared to be fighting something, as she was constantly moving on her feet, ducking and dodging out of the way, occasionally tossing a knife through the air. But the strange thing was, none of the boys nor Dolcetto and Scar could see what she was fighting. It looked like she had gone crazy, throwing daggers at nothing.  
“What’s going on?” Rin questioned, “It looks like she’s fighting something, but I can’t see anything!”  
“Has she been possessed?” Al questioned.  
“No,” Shura responded, “There’s something there, but none of you can see it.” “It’s called a mayuko,” she explained gravely, “It only appears before woman and is made of human spite. It feeds off if insecurities, particularly those of young girls…” The boys turned at her in surprise. They noticed her movements were getting more sluggish as it beat her back into one of the darkened corridors. She delved into a horrible coughing fit before being thrown across the room by some unseen force.  
“We’ve gotta do something! She’ll die if this keeps up!” Ed said.  
Rin began to move forward, drawing his sword again before Shura put a hand out in front of him to stop him. “Let me take care of this. You guys start getting out of here. You’d do her no good trying to fight a demon you can’t even see,” she said, “I’ll meet up with you later.”  
“You sure?” Rin questioned.   
“I just hacked my way out of a monster’s stomach! I can handle little a mid-level demon like this!”she responded with a smirk and looking over her shoulder at them, “Now get out of here idiots! I didn’t hack my way out of said stomach so you could all die.” She then slipped away from the group.   
The boys nodded before running out the large double doors. Scar paused for a moment, staring at the enigma of a woman as she rushed off to save the little xingese princess. He had no idea what to think about her. She served a dark lord but was almost killed by the minions of a demon king. She saved them after trying to kill them the day before. Wouldn’t it make more sense to leave them behind as a distraction for the demons and homunculi? What did they matter to her and those children, especially after having attempted to murder them on several occasions? And just who was she? She looked like she could be half ishvalan with the tan(although not nearly as dark as his own) skin and reddish eyes, but he’d never heard an amestrian name nor an ishvalan name like “Shura”. Was she even human at all? She certainly had powers beyond a normal human, and having connections to Shaitan didn’t help that fact.. Just who or what was she?  
He didn’t have time to contemplate this further as dolcetto had called for him. He turned and ran into the tunnel, looking behind him one last time. They group ran down the tunnels as fast as they could, hearing what was left of the demons chasing after them.   
….  
Father was furious. How had both of his strongest children failed so miserably?! He couldn’t let them get away. “Greed,” he said, getting the homunculus’s attention , “Go after them. Bring back the demon spawn and the elric brothers. Kill the rest.”  
“Really?” Greed pouted. Well, there went his plan to convince Father to let him keep the woman and the punk kid. “Alright boss, whatever you say…” he sighed before running down into the tunnel.  
When he turned inside, he quickly frowned as he saw the three different tunnel entrances. “Aw, great,” he grumbled, “Which one did they go down…” He stood for a minute tapping his chin before heading down the center path. That was probably the right one because it was the most direct, right?  
….  
Mei’s vision was starting to get blurry as she picked herself up from another attack. She felt like she was going to throw up at any moment. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel so sick and week? She stumbled and fell over as she was hit again by one of the demon’s many arms. Xiao Mei ran up to her, licking her face and trying to wake her up. Mei tried to slowly push herself up while the demon laughed at her.  
“Poor, weak little princess,” she cooed, “No wonder the Chang clan is struggling. It’s heir is weakest link in the royal family.” She raised her arm to slam down on mei’s head. “I should probably just put you out of your-” she began before screaming as her arm was lobbed off.  
The demon turned to look with fury upon whoever did this too her. “Hey,” Shura said, glaring at her, “Picking on someone smaller than you is a real bitchy thing to do, ya know that?”  
“This coming from the woman who acts like a bratty teenager?” The mayuko hissed in response.   
“Ooo! Scathing!” Shura said, smirking as she struck the demon again, “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to shame me, though. I mean seriously, it’s 1914 and look at how I’m dressed!” Shura then lept forward hacking and slashing away at the mayuko shrieked and cursed in anger, hurling insults at her like “slut” and “drunk” as she barely dodged Shura’s blade.   
Mei watched from the ground, both confused and mesmerized by this woman who had come out of nowhere to save her. She was incredible, although something about her was vaguely familiar.  
After several minutes of dodging, Shura ran the demon through with her sword. It cried out in pain before it began to dissipate slowly. “Not so tough are you?” Shura sneered.  
“What’s the point…” the demon hissed as it died, “if you’re stronger than me?” Shura gave a confused look before it continued. “You won’t live past thirty anyways…” it whispered, catching Shura off guard and causing her to freeze, “You’ll die just like your mother, and her mother, and hers….a slave just like the rest of them you wench…”  
Shura growled before swiping her sword through the air and dissipating the rest of what remained, grunting angrily with each swing. She huffed for a few moments after the demon was completely gone before taking a deep breath and letting it out again, her face now stoic.   
She then put away her sword before turning her attention to the little Xingese girl. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to push herself up. “Who…” she started, “Who are you?” Xiao Mei jumped in front of her, not quite growling but still in a protective stance.  
“Easy there kid,” she said holding up her hands, “I’m not gonna hurt ya. My name’s Shura. You put up a damn good fight back there for someone who clearly isn’t an exorcist.”  
The girl smiled slightly before letting it fall. “I don’t think so…” she said, “That thing was right. I-I can’t protect anyone...I can’t even protect myself. Look at me, I can barely get up...”  
“That’s bullshit,” Shura snorted, “You certainly showed how tough you were before back at the train yard.”  
A look of realization dawned on Mei’s face. “You’re that woman…” she said.  
“Yeah, the one you threw the suit of armor into,” she remarked, “Don’t worry, I’m not here to fight this time around. I’m here to help.” With that, she began lifting Mei to her feet. “Don’t believe that thing, kid,” she said, “All those demons do is tell jealous lies and-” she stopped as Mei suddenly threw up all over the floor. Shura raised an eyebrow before placing a hand to the girl’s head.   
“Jeez louise, girl. No wonder that thing kicked your ass, you’re sick as a dog!”she noted.  
“I can’t be…” Mei responded, “I felt...fine...Until the fight started….”  
A warning sign went off in Shura’s head. “Wait, did anything bite or scratch you?”she asked. Mei nodded before turning her cheek to expose a very infected looking wound along her jawline. “Jesus Christ how long have you had that?!”she questioned before picking up the girl piggy back style, “Come on kid, we need to get you some medical help.” She began heading down the corridor which lead out into the main tunnel system. She stopped, however, and bit her lip as she realized she had no clue where she was going.   
“Crap...Where could they be?”she muttered.  
“..I can sense them still,” Mei piped up, “With my alkahestry…”  
“Well that’s convenient,” Shura said, “Can you tell me which tunnel to head down?” Mei pointed down the rightmost tunnel entrance. Shura nodded before adjusting Mei and running down the tunnel as quickly as she could.


	65. Gives Light in the Darkness

The walk through the tunnels was awkwardly silent for the four teenagers and the two criminals. Rin could feel the dog chimera and the serial killer boring holes into the back of his head. He kept glancing back at them too causing their glares to become sterner. It was making the boy feel very uncomfortable. He could see the holy dagger tightly gripped in the dog chimera’s hand. This caused the tension in his back to increase just a bit more. After a few more minutes of this tense silence Rin finally spoke up.   
“Hey,” he said, “I know you hate my guts, but could you maybe not glare at the back of my head like you’re thinking about the best way to cut it off?”   
This caused the other teens to freeze as did the criminals. Scar’s brow furrowed while Dolcetto crooked an eyebrow.   
“It’s called being on guard. You would be too if you had no choice but to travel with someone who could kill you in an instant,” he retorted.  
“Excuse me?” Rin responded in disbelief, causing them to change their stances, “What exactly do you think I’m going through right now?! The last few times we met you’ve tried to kill me! He almost succeeded the first time!” Rin pointed at Scar.   
Dolcetto looked confused while Scar raised an eyebrow. “You expect us to believe a demon as powerful as yourself is terrified of a few humans?” He scoffed.  
“Well I wouldn’t say terrified, but yeah seeing as one of you can blow my head up and the other could literally hunt me down like a dog,” he said, “that kinda puts me on edge.”  
Dolcetto and Scar shared a look. Was he actually being serious? It didn’t make any sense if her was. What demon would actually admit to something like that? What could he possibly gain from admitting he was scared of them? Was this some kind of trick? Was he trying to lull them into a false sense of security? Dolcetto looked him over to try and see if he could find any sort of tell as to whether he was lying or not, but he couldn’t. He looked like he was being genuine. Honestly, nothing was adding up today. The demons were working for the homunculi, but not the demon kid. They were saved by one of his lackeys, and now he was admitting to them that they scared him. What was going on?!  
The teens were also a little confused about the situation. Ed and Bon exchanged glances. Something big was about to happen, they could tell. Whether it would cause infighting among the small group or relieve the tension peacefully, they didn’t know.  
Dolcetto and Scar finally turned back to Rin after a moment. “Just what exactly-”he began but was cut off as Rin shouted “LOOK OUT!”  
He unsheathed his sword suddenly, causing them both to jump with surprise. The boy was covered in blue flames with an angry look on his face before he suddenly charged towards them. They both quickly began readying themselves to fight, when he suddenly pushed passed them. They both turned to see him slice a monster in half, causing it to cry out in agony before burning up. Both men blinked in surprise, mouths open slightly in surprise.  
Rin suddenly turned to the group. “I can hear more coming! Come on!”he shouted.   
The rest of them got ready as they heard the pounding of feet and the hiss of demons approaching.  
….  
The pair walked along the quiet sewer sewer system. Well, Shura was doing most of the walking. Mei was resting on her back, coughing and sniffling every so often. After one particularly loud cough, Shura winced and spoke up.  
“Hey, how ya holding up back there?”she asked.  
“Not good…” she said, “But I don’t feel like I’ll throw up like before.”  
“Well that’s a relief,” she sighed. The last thing she needed was a kid throwing up all over her...but that didn’t necessarily mean she was getting any better.   
“Miss Shura?” the girl piped up, “Why did you come save me? You fought us at the train yard…”   
“Well I wasn’t about to let some little kid die,” she said.  
“Ok…” she responded, “But aren’t you friends with that Shaitan boy?”  
“Who?” Shura questioned.  
“The boy, with the blue flames,” he clarified.  
“You mean Rin?” she said, “Yeah, well that still doesn’t mean I’m going to let a little girl die, even if she did attack my temporary ward.” “What were you guys even doing down here?” she asked, “I know you hate Rin and stuff, but why the heck did you follow us all the way down here?”  
“Your other friend...the armored man…” she started, frowning before coughing again, “He stole Xiao Mei…”  
Shura sighed. “Of course….I knew he should have just left it in the truck…” she muttered, “Look kid, I assure you he didn’t steal it, at least not intentionally. Al’s just a softie for animals. He was probably going to get the thing back to you...though how I’m not sure.”  
Mei looked confused. “Really?”she asked, “But...Then why is he friends with Shiatan?”  
“Why are you friends with that Scar guy?” Shura retorted. She quickly regretted this response as the little girl tugged on her hair  
“Don’t compare them! Mr. Scar is not a demon like that boy is!” she snapped, “He’s a good person! He’s honest, kind, and cares about me, Mr. Dolcetto, and Mr. Yoki!”  
“OW!” she hissed, “Alright, fine! But don’t do that kid! I’m gonna end up dropping you if you do.” “Anyways, I assure you that Rin is no worse-” she started before being cut off by the girl.   
“I can feel something…” she whispered, “Somethings’ following us...something evil…” Shura stopped in her tracks and turned around, a serious look on her face. Her eyes bore into the darkness behind them, looking for some sort of sign of movement. She could hear growling in the distance along with the pounding of feet.  
“Aw great…” Shura grumbled as she set the girl down, “I thought we were done with his minions…” She brought a hand to her stomach as the thumping got louder. There was probably about twenty beasts approaching. “Devour the Seven Princesses, slay the Serpent!” Shura chanted, causing the tattoo on her stomach to glow, and her sword came forth from it again. Mei’s eyes widened as she watched this.  
As she finished summoning her sword, the girl spoke up. “Was that...alchemy?”she asked, still in awe.  
“Nope,” she said simply, “Just regular old magic. Much better for killing demons. Observe.” She began swinging her sword through the air, causing waves of light in the form of slashes of the blade to fly through the air and into the darkness. Cries and yelps of pain sounded from the distance and the creatures stopped in their tracks for a moment.  
“That’ll buy us some time,” she said before letting Mei climb on her back again. “Ok, quick! Where to now?”  
“That way,” Mei said pointing down a tunnel. Shura immediately began racing down it. She hoped she could meet up with the other group quickly.  
….  
Another monster screamed in pain and collapsed as Dolcetto stabbed it with his dagger. He backed up slightly as the larger, stitched together monstrosity fell to the ground with a thud. As he did so, he bumped right into the suit of armor, causing them both to whirl around into defensive stances, only relaxing when they realized what they had bumped into. Still, this wasn’t a good sign. The wide sewer tunnel was now becoming more and more crowded as these demons kept coming. Even when they were defeated, their bodies were taking up space. Dolcetto nearly tripped over several.  
Edward dodged an imp, but nearly slammed his head into an extended pipe in the process. “Damn it...There’s too many of them… and not enough room to move!”he growled, “Don’t these things get tired?”  
“Well, they’re undead, so no,” Bon remarked, “Can’t you use you alchemy to block them off somehow?”  
Ed gave him an annoyed look as he punched another demon in the face. “Uh, hello? Were you even paying attention when we were stuck in that chasm? I can’t transmute!”  
“Scar can,” Dolcetto said as slashed another demon’s head off, “Scar, do you think you can collapse the…”  
“NO!” Ed, Al, and Bon all shouted at once, startling the dog chimera.  
“If he takes out the roof of this tunnel, the whole section could collapse and kill is all!” Ed shouted, “We need to figure out some other way to push them back...”  
“Well what what do you suggest?!” Scar growled as he took out another. He reached into his bag pocket and froze as he realised he was completely out of holy oil. He cursed under his breath. Things didn’t look like they could get much worse.  
“Hold on, let me think!” the blond retorted.   
As this was happening Rin was at the front of the group, taking on the brunt of the beasts. He was slashing wildly, a blur of blue fire rapidly moving back and forth, taking out demons as best he could with each one. He was starting to pant. His knees were getting weak and his arms and back were getting sore. He couldn’t keep this up much longer. The demons seemed to notice this and all at once four gremlins tackled him the ground, biting and scratching at him.  
“RIN!” his friends cried, distracted from their fight. Ed started working his way towards him, dodging monsters and trying not to trip over bodies.  
Rin growled as he tried to push himself up. “Get off of me…” he hissed. He was forcibly slammed to the ground by another as it pounced on him. The boy gritted his teeth feeling the stress and anger building up in his stomach. “I said get OFF!” he roared. With that his blue flames became even brighter, incinerating the demons on top of him on the spot. Everyone had to block their eyes from the brightness of the explosion. Ed opened his eyes to try and look at it but Alphonse suddenly pulled him back and away from Rin as the fire grew brighter as the boy stood up.   
“Al, what the heck?” he demanded. The suit of armor didn’t respond as his eyes were fixed on Rin.  
The boy huffed and growled at the now still pack of demons that had been making their way up the the tunnel. He gripped his sword in his hands and narrowed his glowing eyes at them before swinging his sword as hard as he could. “hhHHRRRRAAAAAAH!” he cried as he slashed through the air, sending a ginormous, wild ball of flames hurdling through the air and down the tunnel, incinerating everything in its path. The low level demons shrieked in pain as they were consumed by the blaze, but were quickly silenced. The only noise remained after the fireball had barreled down the tunnel was the crackle of the flames that clung to the walls and floor.  
Rin huffed and puffed, and the group stared at him in silence. Dolcetto and Scar backed up slightly, looking at him like a wild bull that had broken out of its cell. “Rin?” Ed broke the silence, “Rin are you alright?” Rin’s shoulders were slack and he hadn’t responded. Al’s grip on Ed’s arm tightened slightly. That wasn’t a good sign. Was something wrong with him? He tried to move forward to get to his friend. But Alphonse’s tight grip on his arm stopped him abruptly, causing him to jerk back in surprise. He turned to look at his brother in surprise. What was with him? “Let go Al!” he snapped, wrenching his arm from him.  
Ed turned back to Rin to see him collapses to the ground, his flames dying out. “Rin!” he cried, running up to him.  
“Brother wait! Be careful!” Al called, but Ed ignored him and helped Rin up. Al clenched his fists nervously as he watched his brother.  
“Hey,” he said helping Rin up by heaving one of his arms over his shoulder, “You ok?”  
Rin nodded, panting. “I just need...a moment to catch my breath,” rin said, stumbling as he tried to stand up on his own.  
If Alphonse had been able to breath, he would have let out a sigh of relief as Ed walked Rin back to the group, sword dragging behind him. They were alright. Rin was exhausted but he was alright. Everything was fine. No one was hurt. No one was going to be hurt…  
“W-well…” Dolcetto said clearing his throat as the boys approached them, “That takes care of that then…” Scar nodded as his eyes followed the boys. He knew the demon was powerful, but witnessing it first hand was something else, and something told him that wasn’t even him at his strongest…  
All of a sudden they heard a an echoing, thumping noise from a tunnel up ahead. They all froze as it got louder. “Oh no…” Dolcetto groaned, “Please tell me there’s not more of them…Just how many of these things are there?!”  
“As many as hell can hold,” Bon remarked, “But I don’t think that’s a demon.”  
The approached the side tunnel entrance the sound was coming from with caution, and sure enough, It wasn’t the sound of an approaching demon at all.  
“Shura!” Alphonse chirped as the woman came running down the tunnel.  
“Thank God…” Bon breathed a sigh of relief.   
Scar narrowed his eyes. “Where’s Mei?” he questioned.  
“Not even going to ask if I’m ok? Gee thanks,” Shura huffed as she got closer, “Relax, grumpy, I’ve got her.” Once she had reached them, she stopped and set her down on the ground.  
The looks of delight and suspicion morphed into that of worry and shock when they saw the state of her. She was pale and beads of sweat were pouring down her face. She let out a violent cough causing Ed, Bon, and Rin to cringe. “What did you do to her?!” Dolcetto growled angrily, glaring at Shura.  
Shura balked in offence. “What did I do?! Are you serious?! I saved her you idiot!” she responded, “She’s like this because she got a nasty scratch from a ghoul and you idiots let her keep fighting instead of having her treated! You’re lucky she didn’t collapse sooner or she would have been torn apart by those demons.”  
Dolcetto backed off and turned back to the girl with a worried look. Scar crouched next to her, frowning. He hadn’t seen someone this sick since a malaria outbreak when he was young. His brow creased further before he spoke. “How can we help her?”he asked, “What do we need to do?”  
“Well, right now the best thing to do is get her to the surface,” Shura said, “And get her treated as soon as possible by someone who knows how to treat temptaints.”  
“Yukio can treat her!” Rin piped up.  
“Perfect, Now all we have to do is-” she started before boeing cut off by a loud hiss. They turned down the tunnel and heard the rumbling of trampling feet in the distance, sending a shiver down their spines. “...Oh yeah...forgot about them...shit,” she mumbled, “Can one of you seal off this exit?”  
Scar wasted no time slamming his hand down on the inside of tunnel wall. With the crackle of electricity and a loud boom, the side tunnel quickly began collapsing in on itself. The ishvalan quickly retracted his hand to avoid it getting crushed.  
“Jeez are these things ever going to let up?” Ed complained.  
“Sorry kid, but I don’t think so...especially now that we’re all together like this,” shura said stroking her chin, “The best thing we can do right now is split up.”  
“Split up?” Rin questioned, now standing on his own, “How's that gonna work?”  
“If we split up, they can’t gang up on us as easily. Or at the very least one group can distract the majority while the other gets her back to the surface as quickly as possible,” Shura said, “We’ll break up into two groups. Rin, you, Al, Bon, and Ed will get the little girl to Yukio and get her treated. Dogbreath, Grumpy, you’re with me.”  
The teens and dolcetto blinked in surprise while Scar narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “I’m sorry, what did you just call me?!” Dolcetto responded incredulously.  
“Dude are you sure you want to go with them all on your own?” Rin questioned.  
“Yeah, maybe one of us should go with you,” Bon suggested.  
“Well I’m not about to send Rin with them and Ed and Al are going to need all the help they can get facing off against demons so that means you have to stay too,” she said, “And it’s not like I can let these two chuckle heads go off on their own. They didn’t even know about the dangers of ghoul wounds. They wouldn’t last that long down here with a demon king running around.” Scar glared at her at that. Though she was also worried about the possibility of this Scar person getting possessed by something. A demon with control over a body with that kind of alchemic ability? Yeah, that was definitely something she couldn’t let happen.   
“...Alright…” Rin agreed.   
“How do we know we can trust you though,” Dolcetto piped up, “How do we know you’re not going to just turn us in when we get to the surface?”  
Shura rolled her eyes. “Look, If I wanted to get rid of you I could have done it right now,” she said, “It’s called stab your legs and leave you to die. I could have done it ten seconds ago but I didn’t. Infact, this is probably the second or third time I could have gotten rid of you just in the past hour, the previous two possible times could have been achieved by literally doing nothing.” “So please, stop being suspicious for one second so we can all work together and not die,” she said, “Cause honestly I’d like to get a few more years in at least before I die.”  
Dolcetto looked away sheepishly before mumbling an apology and nodding. Scar still was giving her an analyzing look but nodded. He picked Mei Chang up and handed her to Alphonse. “Take care of her,” he said simply. The suit nodded. Before Scar, Dolcetto and Shura turned to head off in another direction.  
“Be careful Shura!” Ed called.  
She paused as she turned into a separate tunnel and smirked at him. “Don’t worry, kid! I’ll be fine!”she said, “You just worry about yourself. I’ll see you in a few hours. K?” Ed nodded and with that, she disappeared into the tunnel with Scar and Dolcetto.  
….  
Greed sighed and scratched his head. He must have taken the wrong turn somewhere or something. He had somehow made it down to what looked like an area with some prison cells, as doors lined the walls. He opened one and peaked inside, revealing a middle aged man with black hair. The man looked up at him in confusion. Two chimeras were lying on the ground next to the wall they were chained to, sleeping. Greed frowned.  
“Ummmm…” the man started, “Who exactly are you?” he questioned as the teen(homunculus?)glared at him. “Did you come to interrogate me or-”  
“Oh, I see how it is!” Greed huffed, “Our prisoners can have all the cool pets they want but when I want a human it's an automatic no! That’s just great!”   
The man blinked. “I’m sorry, wha-” he started before being cut off as the homunculus slammed the door and continued on his way. Marcoh blinked again as he was once more left alone to the silence of his cell. What the heck was that all about? Things were starting to get really weird around here…well, weirder than usual.


	66. inform against me

Envy growled as he tried to fight against the giant snake binding him. He wriggled and fought as best he could, but it didn’t work. He was bound so tightly he could barely move an inch. “Let go of me!” he hissed, “Let go of me you-you…” He gagged as the snake attempted to crush his throat. “Father!” he gasped, “HElp!”  
Father gave him an annoyed look. “You don’t need my help Envy,” he said, simply, “Just change back into your humanoid form.”   
The homunculus blinked before feeling a burning sense of embarrassment in his gut. Of course, how could he have been so stupid? He quickly began shrinking himself down as fast as he could. The snake demon hissed in surprise when the solid surface of the monstrosity beneath it disappeared and it collapses to the ground like a giant wheel of rope. The homunculus quickly climbed over the folds of the demon’s long body and scuttled away. “Finally,” Envy breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as he had, The demon began to rise up. It shook its head before swiveling it to glare at Envy. It opened its wide maw, lunging forward to bite down on the palmtree homunculus, causing him to flinch.   
Before the demon was able to bite him, Father suddenly shifted his foot. red lightning tore through the ground before reaching the demon. Instantly, the ground underneath the giant snake rotated like a trap door, effectively banishing it to the level below. Envy then relaxed again, relieved that he was now completely out of harm's way. Father moved his foot again to release gluttony from the ground he had been trapped in by his tusks. The large homunculus wobbled to his feet as envy brushed himself off.  
Not a moment later, they heard a groan come from the trench the female exorcist had created. Astaroth pulled himself out of the trench, growling and cursing as he rubbed his head. He glanced around at his surroundings in a mix of confusion, anger, and bafflement. “Where are they?!” he snarled, “Where?! Where is the Satan spawn?! And the exorcist?! My forces! WHERE. ARE. THEY?”   
Envy and Gluttony both flinched away from the angry demon king, shuffling back slightly. Envy even gulped in fear. Neither of them want to anger the monster further. Thankfully, Father had no issue speaking up. “Regrettably, they escaped,” he said, slight annoyance in his voice, “the exorcist took out most of your minions and escaped with the demon child.”  
astaroth stared at him in disbelief, mouth agape. Soon the demon began shaking with rage, his eyes turning red. “NNOOOOOOOO!” he roared, slamming a fist into the ground. The floor shook as a giant crack formed in the ground, splitting it almost all the way up to Envy’s feet. “DAMN HER!” he snarled as he pulled himself out of the trench, “DAMN THAT EXORCIST!!”  
“I doubt they have made it out of here just yet. I have already sent Greed after them,” Father assured, “but he might have trouble tracking them down. Go ahead and take Envy and Gluttony with you to find the exorcist and the children.”  
Envy and Gluttony froze. “WHAT?” they squeaked simultaneously as they turned to look at Father. Was he really expecting them to work with him when he was in this state?  
Thankfully, they didn’t need to question him further as Astaroth spoke up. “No,” he growled as he marched towards the exit, “They can find the boy. I will deal with the exorcist on my own…” With that, he marched into the tunnels, his eyes glowing with murderous intent.   
...  
Shura’s eyes darted around as they walked quietly through the labyrinth of tunnels. The two men were glancing over their shoulders keeping a lookout for any demons. They hadn’t seen, smelled, or sensed anything for a while, but they couldn’t be too sure. It was almost too quiet to be honest. It was starting to make Dolcetto paranoid, so the dog chimera finally broke the silence.  
“So...Shura, right?”he said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking but seeing as we’re stuck with you for who knows how long...but do you mind telling us a bit about yourself?”  
She glanced at him for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “I thought I told you before at the train yard,” she said, “I’m a first class exorcist.”  
Scar narrowed his eyes. “No one has seen a real exorcist in hundreds of years,” he stated, “Besides, if you are an exorcist, then why are you working for Shaitan?”  
She rolled her eyes. Great, here we go with this... “If you’re referring to Rin, I’m not exactly working for him,” she explained, “I’m more like an underpaid babysitter for him.”  
The two men blinked in surprise. They didn’t know what kind of response they were expecting but it certainly wasn’t that. “I’m sorry, what?” Dolcetto responded, “Since when has a demon needed a babysitter?!”  
“Since my boss figured out that demon king Astaroth was here to mess with his stuff,” she said simply, “Really, Rin isn’t the one you need to worry about, it’s Astaroth. He wants something with the kid but we don’t know what yet, and that’s what’s really terrifying.”  
Scar and Dolcetto stopped and shared confused looks before Dolcetto spoke again. “Excuse me, but how is Lord of Evil less of a threat than that guy?” he questioned, “You do realize that kid could literally burn down the world if he wanted too.”  
Shura finally stopped and took a deep breath and shifting her jaw. She could tell them the truth. She could tell them right now and explain everything about Rin. She could...but she wasn’t. She had promised Shiro she wouldn’t say anything to anyone about them. Even back when she thought he was insane for taking them in in the first place she had promised not to say anything. She had considered it once, just once, but even just that she regretted when Arthur had discovered the truth on his own. All it had taken was one man finding out and in less than fifteen minutes, everyone in the world knew. Mere seconds after that it looked like the boys would die and Shiro would be burned at the stake as a heretic.  
Everyone who knew Shiro had been brought into questioning for possibly conspiring against the church. It was like a witch hunt! Even if it could never happen on such a scale here, knowing just how much danger it could put them in to let even one person find out the truth, she wasn’t going to risk telling anything to someone Rin didn’t trust, and certainly not someone with any ill intent towards him.  
“I know full well what he’s capable of,” she said, “but trust me when I say that he isn’t a threat, mostly because he isn’t the demon you think he is.”   
Scar’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about? Did you not see his blue flames?!” he questioned, “If he isn’t Shaitan, that who is he?!”  
“Sorry, but that information is classified,” she said, looking him dead in the eye, “If you want to know that, you have to ask the kid himself.” “But what I can tell you is this: he isn’t the lord of evil, he’s a sixteen year old kid,” she explained, “A kid who’s had a target on his head from day one because of lunatics like the freak we saw working with the homunculi. I mean, really. You guys had your asses handed to you by him, but you were able to keep the person you consider the lord of darkness on the ropes. Does that even make any sense? Yes the kid is dangerous, but that’s why I’m here: to make sure 1, nothing bad happens to him, and 2, that nothing bad happens because of him.”  
Scar was silent as was Dolcetto as the both thought over what she had said. To be completely honest, her story made much more sense, at least in consideration of recent events. After all, for what reason would the lord of darkness have for fighting a demon king. Surely he’d command him if he was, wouldn’t he? Also, why go to the trouble of saving them multiple times then? Even if he were just a human it would have made more sense just to leave them behind. Maybe she did have a point...maybe the kid hadn’t been lying when he said he had nothing to do with what happened at the Devil’s Nest…  
Still...a demon was a demon. By nature they were malicious, manipulative, and spiteful creatures. The last thing they were going to do was trust one blindly. They could believe that she was telling the truth that he wasn’t really Shaitan, but they doubted he was just some innocent kid like she was suggesting. They had seen first hand how dangerous he was. The kid was still a threat, even if he wasn’t as big of one as they first suspected.   
“So, my turn for questions,” Shura announced, “Scar, or whatever your name is, how is it that you know about the blue flames?”  
The man blinked in surprise. Well, he supposed that ruled out the possibility she was half Ishvalan...or maybe her non Ishvalan parent raised her alone...“What does it matter?” he asked.  
“Because from what I understand of the situation, no one here should have any idea that demons even exist, let alone know what blue flames mean,” she responded.  
“Well you’re wrong,” he said, “My people have passed down knowledge on how to hunt demons for over four hundred years.”   
“Care to expand on that?”she asked, “How did they get that knowledge?”  
Scar thought back to the story he had been told. “Centuries ago, after the collapse of Xerxes, something happened,” he explained, “A monster came into our world, a being made of blue flames, Shaitan.” Shura stopped and turned to him.  
“Wait, you mean he actually entered this world?!” she questioned. Scar nodded in response. Well this was horrifying news. Satan actually managed to get in here! So much for it being safe for Rin…  
“Yes…” he said looking at her in an odd way, “How did you not know that if you are an exorcists?”   
“Well it appears there have been a few gaps in my education,” she huffed glaring at a wall, “Gaps that I’m going to have a long conversation with my boss about later…could have really used that information, asshole…” She continued to mutter for a moment before gesturing for Scar to continue.   
The man raised an eyebrow before speaking again. “As I was saying, the world was devastated by this. Shaitan and his monsters destroyed everything in their wake, sinner or saint. We prayed to Ishvala for help, but it never seemed to come...that is, until one day…” he said, “One day it all just stopped. Shaitan disappeared, and then an angel of Ishvala appeared with a legion of exorcists at his side to get rid of all the monsters the devil had brought with him. They were the ones who taught us how to fight demons. They gave those of us they taught the name exwires and left us a few years later with the knowledge on how to protect ourselves from demons.”  
“An angel?” she questioned getting a sinking feeling in her stomach, “...Who?” Please let this not be what she thought it was…  
“His name was Johann Faust,” Scar responded simply.  
...And there it was. Shura could feel her eye twitching in irritation. Of course. Of course he made himself a holy figure it this play world he claimed for himself. Why did she expect any different?! She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. No wonder they were so willing to help us back at the ruins…  
“What?” Dolcetto said, raising an eyebrow, “Is something wrong.”  
“No, just…” she sighed, “I can feel a headache coming on.”   
Scar and Dolcetto shared disbelieving looks. “You know something about Johahn, Don’t you?” Scar questioned, “How, how do you-”   
“Hey guys?” Dolcetto suddenly piped up, “Sorry to interrupt, but we have company.” Scar turned around, now facing the same direction Dolcetto was. “What is it, another demon?” he questioned.   
“No, it’s one of those homunculus assholes,” Dolcetto growled, sword poised to strike, “I can feel it. Whichever one it is is getting close...Hey Shura-” He started but when both men turned, the exorcist was nowhere to be seen. All they could see behind them were the pipes lining the walls that reached up to the tunnel ceiling. Dolcetto cursed. “Really?! What the hell! That bitch said she was going to stick with us!”he cried, “GRRRR...Next time I see that back stabbing little-” But he stopped himself as he smelled something...something very, very familiar…Where had he smelled that before?  
“Well, well, well…” a hauntingly familiar voice rang in Dolcetto’s ears, “Look what we have here.” Dolcetto’s heart skipped a beat as he suddenly realized where he had recognized that smell from…But...that was impossible, wasn’t it? It couldn’t be him...It couldn’t! He and Scar slowly turned to look at who was in front of them now.   
However, to his disappointment and confusion, instead of his former friend he saw a young teen of eastern descent with black hair tied back into a ponytail. The teen bore a devilish smirk with his arms folded. Who was this kid? He wasn’t who he had been expecting but he still looked familiar.   
“Father told me there were some rats scurrying down around here,” he continued, “But with all these tunnels I didn’t think I’d actually run into anyone. Lucky me, I guess!”  
Scar narrowed his eyes at him. He recognized this boy. He had seen him before at the train station, fighting that homunculus. Why was he working for them now? “Who are you?” He questioned, “Are you not the boy that was aiding the Elrics and the demon child yesterday?”  
The boy raised an eyebrow in confusion, smile falling slightly. “Huh?” He said, before understanding flashed through his eyes, “Ooooh! You mean the prince guy.” “Sorry buddy, but he checked out of this body a few hours ago,” he said, smirking as he uncrossed his arms and brought his left hand up to his chest, exposing the tattoo, “This body belongs to Greed now and no one else.”  
Dolcetto’s sword fell to his side, his grip no much more limp. Greed? But how? How was this possible? He looked nothing like him. He stared at him like he was a mirage that he couldn’t discern whether it was real or not. “You...you’re Greed?” he asked quietly.  
“Yep,” he said smirking, “The one and only.”  
Dolcetto took a step back “No that’s not…” he muttered, but then Greed’s own words echoed in his mind.   
“Nothing is impossible,”  
Maybe...Maybe it was really him. He had said the philosopher’s stone was his core, and he said he had gotten placed inside this body...could it be? A smile split across Dolcetto’s face as the man dropped his weapon. It must be, it must be him!  
Scar stared at him in surprise, about to question him before the man began laughing. “It’s you, you’re alive!” he cried in joy. Nothing could express the joy welling up in his heart as he stepped forward. His friend… his closest, most dearest friend was standing before him, alive. “I can’t believe it...I thought you were dead! I thought they had killed you…” he said, his voice almost cracking with emotion as he walked forward, “I knew you wouldn’t go down that easily, I just new it!”  
Scar’s mouth hung open in confusion. What the hell was he doing?! He reached out to try and stop him when Greed suddenly spoke up.   
“I’m sorry, who are you?” he asked, his eyes blank as his face bore a puzzled expression.  
Dolcetto stumbled back, feeling a stab of betrayal shooting through him….What did he just say? How could he not know who he was? He was his friend! His closest friend! How could he forget him? Dolcetto’s hand balled into fists. “It’s me you idiot!” he said, “Dolcetto! Your partner in crime! Your friend! We lived together at the devil’s nest for years! Stop messing around!”  
Suddenly a flash of understanding appeared in the homunculus’s eyes. “Ohhhh you think I’m that greed that the boy was talking about,” he said before smirking, “Sorry, buddy but that’s old model. He’s long gone. I’m the new Greed.” His smirk grew into an evil smile as red lightning crawled up his arms, turning them coal black. “And the new Greed doesn’t need any friends,” he stated, while still smiling, “So sorry.”   
The homunculus began walking forward, malicious intent in his eyes. Dolcetto felt a chill run up his spine as he backed up. No, this couldn’t be happening. This was Greed, he even had the same powers! Why was he doing this? What happened to him? He had no clue what was going on. All he knew is he couldn’t fight and try to kill his friend.   
THWACK  
Thankfully, he didn’t have to, as shura suddenly swung down from one of the over hanging pipes and kicked the homunculus in the back of the head, causing him to hit the ground with a heavy THUNK! The homunculus lay still on the ground completely unconscious.   
Dolcetto stood there silently, mouth agape as his brain tried to comprehend the whirlwind of emotions that had tore through him in the past ten minutes. In the meantime Shura pulled out her sword and used its magical powers to bind up Greedling. Once she was done, she brushed herself off and walked up to the pair. “What was that about me being a bitch?”she asked tartly.  
…..  
“Not here?!” Rin questioned to the lady at the front desk, “What do you mean yukio’s not here?”  
The poor young woman looked down at the strange, sword-toting, shirtless boy covered in blood in a mix of confusion and fear. “I-I’m sorry, sir,” she said, “He received an official transfer notice this morning. He doesn’t work at this hospital anymore.”  
“HOW COULD HE HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED?!” Rin demanded, “HE WAS JUST HERE LAST NIGHT!”  
“Rin calm down!” Al tried. Bon and Edward looked around awkwardly at the scene before them. If someone hadn’t been giving them odd looks before, they were now. Everyone sitting in the waiting room was giving the two state alchemists, strange punk teen, and suit of armor carrying a little girl strange and frightened looks. Honestly neither of them could blame them, as they all look like they had barely survived a bomb going off, what with their clothes being covered in blood and torn up from all the fighting.   
“Sir, please, there are plenty of other doctors I can get for you,” the woman at the front desk said, trying to sound calm as Bon noticed she was trying to discreetly reach her hand under her desk. Uh oh. Time to get out of here before security showed up. “If you could just take a seat, the doctors will be with you and your friends short-” she continued but was cut off.   
“What? No, I don’t need a doctor, she does!” Rin said, “And we need Yukio! Specifically him! Come on, you gotta have a way to-GAH!”  
He was suddenly dragged back by Ryuji, who had grabbed his upper right arm. “Sorry ma’am,” he said, “We’ll be taking our business elsewhere.”  
“What the hell?! BON!” he cried as he was pulled away from the desk and out the door, “Let go!” He finally swatted the teen away from him and gave him an annoyed look. “What was that for?!” he cried.  
“To stop you from getting us kicked out or thrown in the mental ward, idiot!” he snapped back, “We were about two seconds away from having security on our asses!”  
“What are we going to do now?” Alphonse asked in worry, “If yukio’s not here, how are we going to be able to save her?” All three teens looked at each other before looking at Mei. Her breathing had become haggard. The had to get her treated, and quick.  
“Maybe he’s still in town,” Edward suggested, “He was officially transferred sometime last night. No one could have told him before he left with the colonel or we would have found out, Right? And the trains would have stopped running for the day long before we would have gotten back. He could still be here.”  
Rin’s eyes lit up. “Maybe he’s at the house!” he said, before charging off, “Come on let’s get a cab.”  
“Hold it!” Bon said grabbing him by the shoulder again to stop him, “Are you serious right now? Do you think a cab is going to take us there in this state?” He gestured to them all. “We look like psychopaths who just went on a murder spree!”he said, “and walking around the streets like this will definitely draw some attention from the cops.”  
Rin looked around awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “Fair point,” he said before suddenly smiling, “No need to worry! I know how to sneak back home from here. Ed and I know this city like back of our hands.” He gestured for them to follow him as he darted into an alleyway.


	67. Steals Something from the Thief

Roy sat in the Furher’s office adjusting himself in the uncomfortable chair. He hadn’t been allowed to leave for the entire night. He had been locked in and guarded. The Furher didn't want him to be able to leave and possibly get into contact with anyone, which was curious seeing as he had already transferred out most of his allies. This could only mean one thing, they knew about the exorcists some how...Roy cursed as he slid his fingers down his face. This was his fault. He had been too brash, tried to fight a battle he wasn’t prepared for. Now he and everyone he knew was suffering for it, even his children.  
He cupped his hand around his mouth as his brow knit together. He had taken Yukio away from him so easily. He hadn’t even been able to put up a fight for him. It was chilling how easily he plucked him away. He had been lucky that they hadn’t thrown Rin into a war zone while they were at it...or was he? He had no idea what was going on right now. For all he knew that homunculus could have…  
No. No, no, no...he couldn’t allow himself to think about that. The situation was already desperate, he couldn’t give into hopelessness. That’s just what those monsters want. He had to remind himself Rin was no longer the little kid he saved from a monster. He was a strong, capable young man who squared off against a demon king and defeated a homunculus…yet he was also the boy that nearly died at the hands of the alchemist killer while he stood by uselessly...  
Roy growled to himself. Why did he leave him behind?! That homunculus wanted him dead! Roy ran his hands through his hair and tugged on it slightly. He had been an absolute fool and a terrible father to allow this, and once again now that his sons were in danger he found himself sitting by uselessly. “Are you sure you chose the right person for this job, Shiro?” he muttered under his breath before sighing a long, exhausted sigh, “Because it feels all I’m capable of doing is sending these boys to their death…”  
He wanted to cry in anger. He wanted to just let his emotions break loose. He couldn’t even do that though. He didn’t want to give Bradley the satisfaction of knowing just how deeply this affected him. All he could do was just sit, wait, and hope that he gets to see his sons again. 

Yukio clicked the suitcase shut and sat down on his bed opposite the vacant one technically belonging to Rin. He held his face in his hands and his elbows pressed into his knees. It was the last suitcase. All his other supplies were already packed. He still had a few hours before his train, which unfortunately left him plenty of time for intrusive thoughts. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He couldn’t get a hold of his father( the secretary just said he was being held up in a meeting but wouldn’t elaborate) and he had no clue where Rin was. No one had heard from him or Edward all night. No one had a single clue as to where they went. This whole situation was terrifying, with or without his current issue. Rin could be dead...or worse! That monster Astaroth could have tracked down the homunculus and gotten them….He clasped his gloved hands together and pressed his forehead into his thumbs. It felt strange. It had been a long time since he had prayed for anything except for a gesture over a meal, and considering his current...situation...he didn’t know if it would even be worth it at all but...maybe. “please let them be alive…” he whispered his eyes squeezed tightly shut.  
All of a sudden he head the front door slam open and nearly fell off the bead in surprise. “YUKIO? YUKIO YOU THERE?” his brother’s voice shouted before he heard the sound of the coat rack being knocked to the ground followed by cursing. Yukio breathed a sigh of relief as his heart relaxed its pace. He didn’t think he could be any happier about hearing his brother stumbling around. He practically flew down the stairs to greet him, smile spread across his face...but stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw:  
Bon, Rin, Ed, and Al all covered in various amounts of blood (some of it appearing human, some not), Rin without a shirt and covered in healing cuts, with a noticeable wound in his hand that had been fire seared shut. They were all scuffed up and looked like they had been pulled through hell and back (and for all Yukio knew, they had) and to top it off, in Alphonse’s arms, there was a very sick looking little girl and an abnormally tiny panda.  
He didn’t know what he should have been expecting, though in hindsight he should have expected them to be a little scuffed up, but that didn’t stop his face morphing into one of horror. “RIN?! ED?! WHat the…” he sputtered, “WHO IS SHE?! WHY IS THERE A HOLE IN HIS HAND?!! WHY ARE YOU ALL COVERED IN BLOOD?!”  
“No time to explain!” Rin said, grabbing him with his good hand and pulling him upstairs, “The little xingese girl needs your help like right now!”Alphonse followed and they all crowded their way into Rin and Yukio’s room and set her down on the free bed.”  
As Yukio got a better look at her, he frowned in worry as his eyes grew steely. She was in a terrible state. She looked extremely pale and sweat was running down her forehead. Her breathing was labored and her brow was furrowed in pain. He could see a terribly infected wound on her check. Dark lines crawled across the side of her face like a spider web. This was clearly no human illness, and it was spreading fast. “What happened?” he demanded as he went to unpack somm of his supplies, “How did she get like this?”  
“She was attacked by a ghoul in the sewer,” Ed explained, “We have no idea how long she’s been like this though. We know she’s been like this for at least an hour.”  
Yukio grimaced. That wasn’t good. Especially if she had been running around in a sewer. He pulled out a thermometer, some holy water, and some antibiotic shots.  
He then quickly shut the suitcase and walked back over to her. He knelt down beside the bed and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.  
Immediately she lashed out. “不!” She shouted, weakly swatting him away the best she could, “不! 不! 不! 恶魔! 别碰我!”  
“Stop that! He’s trying to help you!” Rin snapped trying to grab her arm to stop her to stop her.  
Yukio held a hand out in front of him. “Her fever’s made her confused, just leave it to me!” he said, giving his brother a stern look before turning to her. He caught her flailing arm. When he did she looked up at him. “别担心,” he said, “我不是恶魔。” He winced slightly at the slight lie, thoughts drawing back to the spot on his hand before he continued. “我是医生。我想帮你,” he explained, “你懂不懂?”  
“懂...” she repeated quietly. He eyes looked slightly out of focus, but he could tell she was looking at him. Good.  
“好,” he said before holding up the thermometer, “我得给你检查一下，行吗?” The girl nodded giving her consent and he placed it in her mouth. After a minute he checked it and bit his lip. 104.2 F. This was really bad. He then checked her neck and found small, infected boil like structures in clusters. He cursed under his breath. Usually this doesn’t work this fast. She must have been exerting herself and sped up the process. He quickly began reaching for his set of needles and rolled up her sleeve. “你需要打针,” he explained, “对不起。你的胳膊会有一点儿疼。” He injected her arm three times with the antibiotics. She gave a squeak of pain but was otherwise quiet.  
He then pulled out a rag and dabbed it with holy water. He brought it to the cut on her cheek before he began to speak. “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,” he whispered as he wiped the wound on her cheek. When he pulled the cloth away, the infected cut remained, but the black, spider web like lines faded away and her breathing became less heavy.  
The group breathed a sigh of relief.  
“Thank God…” Rin breathed before blinking and smiling, “Heh! Literally I guess!” He then turned to Bon. “Cause you know...scripture?” he said.  
Bon rolled his eyes but his mouth twitched into a momentary smile. “Glad we got to you when we did,” he said to Yukio said as he checked the now smaller boils on her neck, “It’s scary to think about...but had we come any later she could have been done for…”  
Edward and Alphonse nodded solemnly in agreement. Alphonse looked at his hands. He would have had a chill run up his spine had he had one. That little girl...she could have died in his arms had they not found Yukio…  
“We’re not done just yet,” he said as he pulled out a bottle of fever medication and began picking out the correct dose for her, “She’s still very sick. I need one of you to get a wet towel for her and a glass of water.”  
Ed nodded before running to do that. Yukio got her to take the medicine before pulling the covers over her. “Once we get her that water she’s going to need to sleep for a bit,” he said, “I’ll write up a prescription of a month's worth antibiotics for her and you can pick it up for her later. Other than taking that daily until it runs out.  
“Thanks bro!” Rin said, moving to pull his brother into a side hug, “I knew we could count on you.”  
Yukio stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. “Rin, you’re still covered in blood,” he stated, “Touching contaminated blood is the quickest way to spread disease. Get cleaned up before you hug me. Secondly, you STILL haven’t explained what the heck happened!”  
Rin frowned but nodded. “Alright, but when we do, you gotta tell us why you aren’t working in the hospital anymore,” he responded, causing Yukio to stiffen, “Seriously, what happened? Why were you transferred out? What’s going on?”  
Yukio stared at him for a long moment before glancing to everyone else in the room who were looking at him expectantly. “Alright,” he sighed, “But get yourselves cleaned up first while I finished taking care of her. Something tells me this’ll take some time.”  
…  
Dolcetto stood there a moment in shock, still reeling from all that had just occurred. What had just transpired in the last ten minutes had been too much of a whiplash for him and he found himself dumbstruck. Scar on the other hand was fully capable of speech. “You could have let us know what you were planning,” he said, “We had assumed you left us to buy you some time.”  
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Have you learned nothing about me in the past hour and 45 minutes we’ve been stuck together?” she questioned.  
“Aside from your job position, not much,” Scar responded bluntly, “You said you wouldn't abandon us, but words alone are meaningless and promises can be broken easily when the situation changes. Don’t take it personally if we didn’t put as much faith in you as those children might.”  
“Well you should,” she said, “Now come on. We need to get out of here. Who knows what else is down here.” She then began walking past them. Scar began to follow, but Dolcetto didn’t move. His eyes were still locked on the passed out homunculus. The two quickly noticed he hadn’t moved. They both stopped and turned to him. Shura raised an eyebrow. “Hey, Bingo!”she said, “Did you hear what I said? We need to get moving before the next thing that wants to kill us shows up.”  
Dolcetto didn’t respond for a moment before scoop up the homunculus and throwing him over his shoulder, surprising his two companions. “The hell do you think you’re doing?!” Shura questioned, “Have you lost your mind?”  
“I’m sorry…” he said, “...But I can’t just leave him here. He was one of my friends. I’m not going to let him be the puppet of that monster!”  
Shura’s eye twitched. “He was trying to kill you!” She snapped, “and you’re calling him your friend?”  
Scar nodded. “Dolcetto, he’s not your friend anymore,” he stated, “He was prepared to end both our lives without hesitation. You can’t trust him.”  
“They did something to him!” Dolcetto retorted, “He’s still the greed I know. He still acts like him...but they must have done something to his memories. If we can reverse it somehow…”  
“And how do you suppose you’ll do that?” Scar questioned.  
“I don’t know but I’m working on it,” he said, “I just need to be able to jog his memory. And I know exactly where I can take him to do so.” “He shouldn’t be able to break out of this very easily, should he?” Dolcetto asked.  
Shura frowned. “No…” she admitted.  
“Then we have nothing to worry about. He can’t be a threat if he’s detained like this,” he said before his eyes became somber and somewhat guilty looking, “Look...This may be the one chance I’ve got to get my friend back. The rest of them were slaughtered and probably left in an unmarked grave somewhere. Do you have any idea of what feels like? Knowing your friends were all killed and you weren’t able to do anything to stop it from happening? I can’t let this pass me by. Besides, it would be better for you if he wasn’t part of that monster’s rotation, wouldn’t it?”  
Shura and Scar shared a look. The serial killer shrugged indicating he didn’t have anything more to say to convince the dog chimera. Shura sighed and ran a hand down her face. “Damn your loyalty…” she growled. Well, she supposed he had a point. He’d be better as an ally than as an enemy. And, on a slightly less positive note, she was going to have to tell the old man and the girl about what happened to Ling either way. It would at least look better on her if she at least tried to bring him back, whatever state he may be in…  
“Fine,” she conceded turning back and starting to walk away, “But at the first sign of trouble, I’m exorcising him. And if he stabs you in the back, figuratively or literally, don’t come crying to me.” Dolcetto smiled and headed after her. Scar followed behind him, keeping a close eye on the unconscious homunculus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering, what happened when they were speaking in xingese (manderin) is this: Mei freaked out thinking he was a demon, he assured her he wasn't before telling her he was a doctor and he wanted to help. he then asked if he could examine her, told her she needed a shot and warned her that her arm would hurt.


	68. Sour Adversity

“And after we got out of gluttony we ended up in this huge underground place full of demons and met the Homunculi’s father!” Rin recounted as he dried off his hair. They were all now clean and standing around wearing some spare clothing of Yukio’s he lent them, aside from Rin who was just wearing some spares stored at home. The clothes fit them to varying degrees with the shirt covering Ed looking baggy and “reaching to his thighs and the pant legs covering his toes. “Alphonse and Shura where there cause...Wait why were you there again?” Rin said before pausing in his story to turn to Alphonse, whose armor was disassembled and currently being cleaned of demon blood by his brother.   
“We were trying to see if that Father person to get you out of Gluttony,” his voice rang from the torso. Bon shuddered slightly. It was still so weird knowing that suit was empty.   
“Oh ok,” he said, “That makes sense I guess.” He then turned back to Yukio. “And Astaroth was there too!” he explained, “That bastard tried to capture us and almost killed Bon, Shura, and Ling!”  
“Wait,” Yukio said holding up a hand, a worried look on his face, “....Where ARE Shura and Ling? Why aren’t they here?” Rin froze and he, Edward, and Bon all looked away, faces grim and lips pulled tight.  
Yukio’s eyes widened in horror, a numb sensation suddenly coming over him. “He killed them?!”he managed to whisper.  
“Huh?! No!” Rin quickly backtracked, waving his hands back and forth, “Nobody died except for some demons...well not that I know of, we kinda split up at one point so I don’t know where Shura is but she’s probably alive cause she’s a great exorcist and she has back up from Scar and the dog guy-”  
“Wait, what did you say about Scar?” Yukio interrupted in confusion.  
Rin opened his mouth to speak again when Ed spoke up. “He nearly killed Shura but she managed to fend him off,” he stated, “Scar and his entourage, including this girl-” Ed jabbed a thumb at the girl currently tucked under the sheets. “Showed up about half way through the fight and helped us escape, cause apparently Scar hunts demons now and not alchemists...maybe,” he said before sighing, “It’s complicated. Anyways he teamed up with us and helped us escape and while doing so, we split up. This girl was hurt by a demon so we were taking her to you while Shura went with Scar and his friend…However Ling was...captured.” Edward looked down and gripped the cleaning rag in his hand tightly. “Father...the creator of the homunculi…He stuck a philosopher’s stone inside him and turned him into the homunculus Greed,” he hissed, “But not like the one we faced in Dublith. This one is different. He’s father’s puppet now. He doesn’t even have control over his own body.”  
The room felt silent as Yukio stared at them in shock, mouth hanging open slightly. “He was posessed?! Homunculi...can possess people?!”he questioned, trying to process what he just heard, “They just took over him like a demon? And there was nothing you could do to stop them?”  
“No...there wasn’t,” Bon grumbled, still looking at the ground, “And We’ve never seen anything like these homunculi in the universe where I’m from so we couldn’t just exorcise it out of him. It would have taken a lot of time we didn’t have to even begin figuring it out.”  
The room was silent for a moment. Yukio sat down on the bed with his suit case on it and bit his lip as he brought his hands to his face in worry. Whether he liked him or not, he couldn’t help but feel horrible for Ling. He didn’t deserve being possessed. What was it even like being possessed by a homunculus? Did you just become part of their philosopher’s stone? If so...did that mean Ling could be dead? Yukio squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t need to think about something he wasn’t even certain of being true.   
“So….” Rin said, rubbing his arm and breaking the silence, “You gonna tell us why you’re transferring?”  
Yukio looked up at him, blinking as he was pulled out of his thoughts. Oh. Right. Rin still didn’t know. Yukio grimaced and sighed before speaking. “Well, you had to find out either way,” he said, “I’ve been ordered to transfer to Briggs,” Yukio said, causing everyone in the room’s eyes to widen.  
“Briggs?!” Rin shouted, “You’ve got to be kidding!”  
His brother shook his head solemnly and pulled out the parchment from his suitcase. “It’s no joke” he said, “Take a look, straight from the fuhrer himself.” He handed the parchment over to Rin who looked at it dumbly. He read the words over three times before tearing his eyes from it, just to make sure it was real, and sadly, it was.   
“But...why?!” Rin questioned, arms flying open as he demanded an answer.  
“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s a punishment of some kind,” Yukio explained, “We went too far. The homunculi are trying to split us up. They’ve transfered almost all of Dad’s team around the country. Fury, Breda, Falman...Even Lt. Hawkeye.”  
“WHAT?!” Rin cried and Ed stood up, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” He ran over and grabbed his brother’s shoulders. “WHERE THE HELL DID HE SEND THEM? I SWEAR TO GOD IF THEY’RE IN DANGER I’M GONNA-” he started but was cut off as his brother pushed him off of him.  
“Get off me!” he cried, pushing Rin away, “And keep your voice down! If you haven’t forgotten there’s a patient trying to rest!” He jerked his head in Mei’s direction. “Breda was sent to the west and Fury to the south, Hawkeye’s still in Central, but she’s…” Yukio hesitated, “No longer working under Dad.”  
Rin grimaced before rushing off to the closet and pulling out one of his spare uniforms and throwing it on as quickly as possible. “Come on guys! Let’s go!” he called.   
“Huh?” Yukio cried, “Where are you going?!”  
Rin stopped at the doorway. “I need to talk to dad pronto! We need to figure out a way to fix this! You and Bon should stay here and protect her from any demons!”  
“Excuse me?” Bon questioned.  
“I can’t do that, I’ve got a train to catch soon!” Yukio cried.  
“She’s you’re patient! You’ve gotta!” Rin said, “Just catch the next one! ‘Sides there’s no way in hell I’m letting you leave without a goodbye!”  
“You do know more about demons than us, Bon,” Edward pointed out, “Besides I doubt you would want to be so near the fuhrer when the homunculi want you dead.”  
Bon considered this before nodding and sitting down. “I’ll stay too,” Alphonse chimed, “I want to make sure she’s alright. Besides, if you guys are trying to sneak around command to find the colonel without the homunculi noticing, you probably wouldn’t want me stomping after you...Even if they’re used to seeing me, I’m still pretty noticable…”  
Edward nodded. “Ok, Al,” he said, “Come on Rin, let’s go.” With that the two rushed down the stairs and out the door.   
….  
“We haven’t been through this area yet have we?” Shura questioned, glancing around at the familiar setting, “This place feels like a labyrinth. I swore I’ve seen that pipe before…”  
Dolcetto sniffed the air. “It smells knew,” he said, “Although I think this guy’s been through here before.” he nudged the shoulder he was carrying Greed with. As he did this, the homunculus suddenly groaned and they all froze.   
“The heelllll…..” the homunculus groaned as he shifted, “Where...where am I?”  
“God damnit, you woke him up!” Shura hissed.   
Dolcetto balked at her. “Me?! I didn’t do anything! I-” He was cut off as greed knocked into the side of his head as he started to squirm.  
“Hey!” He shouted, “What the hell is going on here?! Let go of me!” He squirmed again falling off of Dolcetto’s shoulder and onto the ground with a loud “oof!” He sat up and looked around blinking away his confusion. “Who the heck are-” he started before recognizing them, “Wait a minute, you’re the humans father sent me to get rid of!” He then grinned. “Ha! Thought you could take me prisoner, did ya? Well too bad idiots!”he said, “No one can tame avarice!” He then attemped to prove his point by trying to break free from his magical bindings to no avail. “Hey!” He growled as he continued to struggle, “What the heck is this stuff?”  
“A spell,” Shura said simply leaning down to eye level with him, “One you definitely aren’t capable of breaking.”  
Greed smirked. “So you’ve put me under your spell have you?” he responded, “I didn’t know you wanted me that bad, sweetheart.~”  
Shura’s eye twitched as she stood back up and glared at him in annoyance. “Dolcetto, give me your sock,” she demanded calmly, holding her hand out.  
Scar and the dog chimera gave her a confused look. “What? Why?!”he questioned.  
“To shut him up,” she said, “After that I don’t think I’ll be able to stand another word out of him without trying to throttle him.”   
“Can’t you just use your own?” Dolcetto questioned.  
Shura scoffed. “No way in hell I’m giving this guy the satisfaction of getting me to take off any article of clothing for him, even if it is to stuff it down his throat,” she responded, “Now hand one over.”   
Dolcetto hesitated before sitting down and pulling off a sock. “Sorry boss,” he said handing the sock over to Shura.   
“I’m not,” she said before stuffing it into his mouth. Greed choked on the makeshift gag, as the disgusting smell and taste hit him. He glared at the exorcist but she paid him no mind.  
“Alright, let’s-” Shura started.  
“Wait!” Dolcetto hissed.  
Shura sighed. “What is it now?” She snapped.   
“It’s him,” the dog chimera growled, “the demon king. I can sense him. He’s headed this way!”  
Shura cursed. “Well then what are you waiting for! Let’s get a move on already!” She urged before starting to run a head. Scar followed and Dolcetto scooped up Greed before chasing after them.  
As they ran Dolcetto could hear the demon chuckling in the distance. “He’s ganing on us!” he hissed.   
“I know!” Shura hissed.  
“Can’t you just use the same attack you used on him before?” Scar questioned.   
“Not in tunnels this small! It could cause a collapse!” she said before screeching to a halt in front of a door. “Hey,” she said turning to Dolcetto, “Can you tell if he has any of his ghouls with him?”  
Dolcetto paused and sniffed the air. “Nope, none,” he said.  
“Good, come on,” she whispered swinging the door open quietly.  
“What are you doing?” Scar questioned, “Inside there will just be a dead end!”   
Shura hushed him. “No it’s going to be a hiding place,” she hissed, “now come on.” With that she grabbed the two and pulled them in before jamming the door behind them.   
“Alright…” she whispered, “none of us are demons so he shouldn’t be able to sense us, and he doesn’t have a crazy sense of smell like his ghouls do. so long as we stay quiet, we’ll be safe.”  
She suddenly heard the clang of a piece of metal. Shura cursed. “What the hell did I just sa-” she hissed out before freezing. Everyone had done the same as they had all turned to see a middle aged man with black hair sitting on a bed, a plate sitting in his lap. The clang had been the sound of the fork that had once been in the man’s hand hitting the ground as he gaped at them, wide-eyed with disbelief.  
“Uhhhh….” Shura started, “Hi?”  
“What in the name of Ishval is he doing here?” Scar questioned, anger in his voice.  
Shura turned to him in confusion. “Wait, you know this guy?!” she questioned.  
“Yes I do,” he growled, “He is the Crystal Alchemist, Tim Marcoh.”


	69. To Die, To Sleep

Shura and Dolcetto glanced between the man who was now quaking in his seat, and Scar who was glaring daggers at him. The two men’s eyes were locked. “Sensing a lot of animosity here…” Shura muttered, “Care to let us in on how you know each other?” “He worked for the military, developing alchemic amplifiers used to slaughter my people during the Ishvalan War,” Scar growled, “It’s his fault that the likes of the iron blooded alchemist and the crimson alchemist were able to cause such devastation!”  
The Exorcists eyes widened and Dolcetto’s lips tugged down slightly as he cringed at the sudden severity of the situation as Greed attempted to prop himself up on Dolcetto’s shoulder as best he could to see what was going on, unfortunately he was not able to due to his current confinement. Shura was silent for a moment before speaking. “...Scar…” she started slowly and quietly, “I know what you’re thinking, and while you are completely justified in hating this man with every fiber of your being-“   
Scar didn’t listen to her as he began to move forward towards Marcoh, hatred in his eyes. “You slipped away from me before, but you won’t do it again!” Scar spat. The man was shaking as he approached him.   
Shura cursed as she moved in front of him. “HEY!” she hissed, “Let me finish, Asshat!” Scar stopped and glared at her. “As I was saying you have every reason to hate him,” she continued, “But if you kill him, I promise you he’s going to get one good scream out that’s gonna echo all down that hall and let Astaroth find us. And I don’t think this needs saying, but if he finds us, death will be the least of your worries, do you understand me?”  
Scar bit his lip, uncurled his fist, and nodded. “Fine…” he sighed in compliance, but there was still bitterness in his voice.   
“No,” the man spoke quietly from behind her, “Go ahead and let him kill me.” Shura and Dolcetto turned to him in surprise. His head was bent down in shame. “I won’t scream, I promise. I deserve it after all I’ve done, and he deserves justice,” he continued.  
Shura stared at him in utter bafflement. “Look guy, glad to hear someone in the involved in this fucked up scheme is repentant of his actions but....You do realise he’s going to explode your head from the inside,” she said, “Are you sure that’s the way you want to go?”  
“It’s the closest thing to a fitting end for me, I assure you. Look, everything he’s said is true,” he explained, “The military commissioned me to create philosopher’s stones for the war. Millions died because of me, even after I left and hid away. I took as many philosopher's stones with me, when I left, as possible but they still had some and used them against the Ishvalans. My life’s work—used to kill innocent people! I’m not fit to be called anything less than a monster, let alone a doctor.” Although he still had his head bent low, Shura could see the creases forming on his face. “What’s worse is, as you can see, they’ve tracked me down and are planning on using me again for whatever nefarious plot they have,” he continued, “I’m not sure exactly what they’re planning, but it could mean the end of the world as we know it, at least, that’s what I’ve gathered. Please, you have to kill me. Otherwise, their plan may come to fruition. I can’t bear the thought of anyone else suffering because of me…”  
The room was quiet. Shura stood over the man, looking down upon him in pity and biting her lip. The room became extremely uneasy and uncomfortable. She glanced from Scar, to Dolcetto, and back to the doctor. As an exorcist sometimes she’d had to take a life to stop a demon. It was necessary. However, usually when that was the case, they were already too far gone and there was no way of saving them. In this case, things were different. This was a conscious human being...one that, although guilty of a lot of horrible things, still was forced into this situation against his will. Oh boy...This decision was not going to be easy…  
Even Scar was starting to have second thoughts. He did not forgive this man, and honestly, he didn’t think he ever would, and although he was a victim of circumstances in his own way, that did not change the fact that what he had done had cost the lives of millions. He had his people’s blood on his hands, and nothing could change that. Indeed, this man needed to receive consequences for what he had done...But it was clear to Scar now that killing him was not the punishment this man deserved. He was not like the crimson alchemist, the silver alchemist, or even the iron blooded alchemist. He did not take pride or pleasure in what he had done. If anything, his apparent guilt weighed more on him than any physical burden ever could. No, In this case his master was right. Death was not the answer. He was not a monster that needed to be destroyed, or a man needing to be made to understand the suffering he had caused. He could never be forgiven, but it would be better suited of him to give back to the people he had a hand in ruining, rather than for him to be another dead man because of everything that happened in Ishval, especially considering how willing he was to do so. At the very least, he could tell them about what was going on behind the scenes during the war.  
“Sorry, but I don’t think you refusing to scream is going to change anything,” Dolcetto finally spoke up, pointing to a corner. There they saw two chimeras sleeping. They were canine like in appearance, although had boar like features. “Your method of killing tend to be a bit noisy and messy Scar,” he reminded quietly, “If the noise doesn’t wake them up the sudden smell of warm blood might. And if neither of those things do the trick they’ll be sure to be yapping their heads off as soon they see that dear old Dr. Marcoh here is deceased, and with our track record, I doubt we’ll be out of here before then.”  
“Well, killing them will be no issue,” she noted before looking up, “And there’s a grating above us to make our exit…” That still didn’t solve the issue of Marcoh though.She bit her lip before turning to Scar. He deserved justice, but this man didn’t seem to her like he deserved death. Course, she wasn’t Scar. She didn’t know what it was like to lose one’s family and everything else she cared about. Hell, she never even had a real family except for maybe Shiro. Still...what could she say to change his mind… She opened her mouth to speak before Scar stopped her.  
“Don’t bother. I already know what you want to say and it’s pointless,” he said simply, although in his voice he clearly was still not happy about the situation, “I’ve changed my mind. We’ll take him with.”  
Shura blinked in confusion and dolcetto nearly dropped Greed who gave an indignant noise. “Wait...really?!” she said, “Are you serious? Not that I’m complaining but...most people don’t go from ‘I want to kill someone’ to ‘let’s protect him’ in a few short minutes like that.”   
“He knows about what these monsters were up to during Ishval,” he responded, “I want to know what they were doing and what part destroying my home played into their plot.”  
Shura nodded. “Well I won’t argue with that,” she said grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him up, “Come on Marcoh. Let’s get you out of here.”  
“Wait!”he said before pausing and staring at her for a moment before flushing and quickly looking away again. Shura gave him an annoyed look. So that's why he was looking down…She really needed a new coat. Well at least he was trying to be polite… “Sorry, ma’am, I mean no disrespect, honestly. I didn’t mean to-,” he said awkwardly, “I’ll get to my point. They’re threatening to kill the village where I come from. They’ll kill everyone if I try to escape on my own. I have to at least make it look like I’m dead so they’ll leave them be. I can do that once you’re done with the chimeras.”  
Shura nodded. “Speaking of, I’ll take care of them while you pull down the grating, Scar,” she said before turning to Dolcetto, “I assume you’d rather not right?”  
He shrugged. “I had to kill some making it down here, but I have my hands full anyways,” he said gesturing to greed.  
“Wait...that’s the boy that visited my cell before!” Marcoh noted, “Why are you-“  
“Long story,” Shura dismissed, “Tell ya about it later. Right now, let’s just worry about getting out of here.” She then brought a hand to her chest. "Devour the Seven Princesses, slay the Serpent,” she muttered, causing her tattoo to glow and for the hilt of her sword to appear from it. Marcoh gaped as she drew her sword. She smirked at him. “You’re staring again,” she noted teasingly.  
Marcoh’s mouth opened and closed in shock. “H-how did you…” he breathed.  
Shura grinned and wiggled her fingers as she whispered, “Magic!”  
Marcoh Shook his head and looked her dead in the eye. “Magic isn’t real,” he stated, before giving her a careful look, “Are you a homunculus too?” He remember one that had a tattoo on her chest as well.  
“Nah,” she said, “Don’t worry. I’m not one of those immortal freaks.” One of the chimeras began to shift as she approached.  
“Then what are you?” he questioned.  
“One of a kind,” she said before attacking the creature as it started waking up.  
…  
Envy shined the flashlight down the hall as he continued to search for the escaped band of exorcists, alchemists, and assorted others. He sighed as he continued down the tunnel. It felt like he had been walking around aimlessly for hours. This was so stupid. He felt like a damned underpaid security guard. Where could they have gone? Surely they couldn’t have escaped already? If they had, it wouldn’t be just Father throwing a fit…  
Envy suddenly stopped as his flashlight shown on a familiar door. Marcoh’s door. An uneasy feeling crept into his stomach as a thought popped into his head… Had they? Surely they didn’t...but...Scar was with them...and he did have it out for every state alchemist. Even ones not involved in the war were targets.  
Envy quickly ran towards the door and flung it open. Once he had, his flashlight hit the ground as his eyes grew wide and a cold feeling entered his stomach. He could see one of the chimeras bodies lying on the floor, head cut off. Words written in blood were splattered on the wall reading “Revenge” and not to far away was the body of Dr. Marcoh with his head blown up. Envy stood there for a moment, gaping. He blinked several times hoping this wasn’t real and he had gotten knocked out in the battle. Unfortunately, that was not the case.  
“Shit…” he breathed. Well, looks like this day couldn’t get much worse...at least until Astaroth finds out anyways.


	70. They Have Their Exists

The first thing she noticed as she woke up was the smell. It was dusty and smelled like cheap detergent. That was strange… she had only been able to clean her sleeping mat over the past few months with alkahestry. And since when had it been so soft? Mei's eyes slowly opened and she looked around the room she was in. The two halves were like mirrors of each other with the beds on opposite sides, the bookcases right behind the beds, and the closets standing next to each other at the end of the room. Mei blinked. She didn't remember how she had gotten here. She vaguely remembered a voice...it had spoken to her in xingese. She shook her head. That must have been a dream. No she knew that was here could speak xingese except her. That still didn't answer her question. The last thing she remembered clearly was going through the tunnels with that Shura woman. But then how did she get here? They must have escaped somehow. They would have been killed otherwise. But then...where was Shura?!

"Hm? Oh!"a voice said catching her attention. She turned to see the suit of armor from before, causing her shoulders to become tense. "Yukio!" it called, "She's awake!" Footsteps began to approach from downstairs. Mei didn't care, her eyes were focused on the suit of armor in fury.

"You!"she cried, "You're the one who stole Xiao Mei! What are you doing here?!"

The suit suddenly raised its hands. "I didn't steal her, she was lost and I found her! I was trying to make sure nothing bad happened to her while she was all alone!" It defended.

Mei relaxed. "Really?"she questioned.

"Yeah, she's right here!" Al said as the little panda popped out of his suit.

"Xaio Mei!" She cried as the panda ran and lept into her arms, "Thank goodness you're alright!" All of a sudden she felt a chill run up her spine. Was that a demon? No...it was too weak to be something like the monsters she had faced before. She could feel it getting closer though…

"Good, you're awake," a voice said. She turned to the door where she could feel the presence and gasped at what she saw. There was a tall, handsome young man wearing glasses standing in the doorway. She felt her heart skip a beat as she gazed upon him. His intelligence turquoise/blue eyes glistened behind his glasses. His jaw was squarely set with two lovely moles elegantly gracing his cheek. To mei, he seemed to just radiate beauty. "How are you feeling?" he said in a soothing, raspy voice.

The girl felt like she could swoon at those words. Immediately she felt herself drifting off into her imagination. Images of him holding her gently, promising his life to her, him defending her and vice versa flooded her mind. She was only snapped out of it by someone snapping in her face.

"Hey! Hey girly snap out of it!"a gruff voice called as she heard the sound of finger snapping. She blinked and frowned to see another boy with piercings and yellow and brown hair standing over her with an eyebrow raised. She batted his hand away and scowled at him. How rude!

"Well, she's well enough to get annoyed…" the teen said, standing back up, "but her face is still looking flushed. She might still be sick."

"Let me check her temperature," Yukio said before grabbing something from his desk and walking over to her. Mei nearly squeaked as he neared her, flushing further as he did so. She couldn't help but grin in delight as she closed her eyes and anticipated him placing a gentle hand on her forehead…

….only to have her eyes fly open again as thermometer was shoved into her face. "Please open your mouth but don't bite down. This is a mercury thermometer," the dark haired teen said simply. Mei's shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment but did as she was told. After a few minutes passed before he pulled the thermometer out and examined it it. "Her temperature is completely fine," he said to the teen with the yellow streak in his hair before walking away, "She is free to leave whenever she feels like. I'll have to write up a prescription for her beforehand for some antibiotics. Probably have to lend her money too as she doesn't have any kind of insurance coverage here in Amestris."  
"Excuse me!" she piped up, causing the two boys to turn around, "Can you please tell me what I'm doing here? Who are you? Where are Mr. Scar and Mr. Dolcetto, or Miss Shura?" Mei felt worry deep in her heart that something bad had happened to them.

"You don't remember us bringing you here?" the one with the yellow streak asked. Mei shook her head no.

The teen with the yellow streak and the boy with glasses exchanged looks before the boy with glasses sighed. "I guess I'll explain it to you," he said, "You were brought here by Bon, Alphonse, his brother, as well as mine after you escaped the sewer. You were in a terrible state after getting that wound from the ghoul. You may have even died if they hadn't gotten you to me. I ended up treating you for it you should be entirely fine after a few days." "My name is Yukio Mustang. I'm a military doctor with basic training treating demon wounds," he introduced, holding his hand out to her.

Mei gave him a surprised look. "Yukio...Mustang?" she repeated, "So you're related to Major Rin Mustang?"

"That's correct," he said, "Rin is my twin brother."

"Twin?!" She exclaimed feeling her heart sink. Well, maybe that explains some of the contradictory stories she'd heard about Major Mustang... Did this mean he was a demon too? He didn't look like one. "Does that mean…" she started sheepishly, "Does that mean you're a demon like him?"

Yukio's grip on the thermometer tightened so much that he almost cracked it. He took in a deep breath before speaking again, "No. I'm not," he said stiffly.

Bon raised an eyebrow at him. "Note to self," he thought, "Don't ask him about his heritage. Meanwhile, Alphonse looked concerned. Something was was wrong about the way he had spoken. What was bothering him? However, he refrained from asking in front of Mei.

"Oh...Ok!" Mei responded. That was a relief. At least he seemed to be normal. She didn't care what Shura said, if Mr. Scar and Mr. Dolcetto were so afraid of that Rin boy, then there must be something wrong with him. And from his Chi there was no denying it. Just being within 20 yards of him had felt like she had been standing at the edge of a burning forest. Yukio's chi was not nearly so intimidating, but there was something dark swirling about him still…And how was it that one brother was a demon and the other wasn't? She furrowed her brow as she contemplated this.

"Alright, Bon," Yukio said writing out a prescription on a piece of paper, "I need you to go to the pharmacy and pick this up for her."

Suddenly a thought came to the young princess's mind. "Oh wait!" Mei piped up, "What about Miss Shura? You never answered my question! Why isn't she here? Did something happen to her?" There was worry clear in her eyes as the three boys looked between each other. In truth, they had no idea where Shura was. She could be in trouble for all they knew, or she could already be free.

"Actually," Bon started, but was cut off by the hall phone ringing. Yukio quickly turned around and ran to answer it, hoping his Father was finally able to call him back. "Dad? Is that you?"he said hopefully as he brought it to his ear.

"God I hope not, I'm too young to be a parent," the female voice on the other end of the line joked, "And I don't remember having a spontaneous sex change recently."

Yukio blinked as he recognize the voice. "Shura?"he questioned.

"Yep," she responded simply. His shoulders slumped slightly but breathed a sigh of relief. "Good to know you are alright…" he said, "Where are you? Did he run off after you escaped?"

"Nah, he's still hanging around," she said, "he's inside the abandoned building next to the alley I'm in. I don't know what street we're on but I'll be able to get my bearings after this call. Now-"

"Wait, how are you calling from an alley?" Yukio questioned, "The payphones are all on the streets…"

"Mephisto minutes," Shura said, annoyance in her voice, "He enchanted my cell so I could call who every I needed to in case of emergencies. It can contact any phone that's connected to a line in this universe, but I really need to cut to the chase here. I'm only allowed 200 minutes for this entire mission before he gets to claim my soul or some shit and I already wasted twenty trying to call your-"

"You sold your soul for cell phone minutes?!" Yukio hissed into the receiver in disbelief.

Shura growled. "No, that's only if I break the contract and go over and frankly, he's still not the worst cell phone service provider. Pretty sure Verizon's run by the devil himself...but that's beside the point," she said, "I need to know if your brother and everyone else are ok. Is Mei there? Did she make it?"

"Yes, they all got out and Mei's alright," he said, "Rin isn't here at the moment though and neither is Ed. They went to Central Command to figure things out over there. A lot has gone wrong, Bradley transferred most of Dad's team to the other end of the nation."

Shura cursed. "Fan-fucking-tastic," she growled, "Whatever. We'll figure out some way to kick 'em in the nads for this." "Anyways, I have something else to tell you about," she continued, sighing as she did so, "Ling...somehow got turned into a homunculus."

The teen grimaced. "I know," Yukio said, "Rin told me."

"Well, what Rin didn't tell you is that we kidnapped him back,"she continued.

"What?!" Yukio nearly sputter.

"You heard me!" Shura said, "I'm not wasting my minutes repeating myself. Anyways, I'm gonna try to figure out a way to exorcise it out of him if I can, but if not, I'm gonna need to meet with your Dad and the kid's little entourage to figure things out. Also, bring Mei. Scar's probably not gonna want to cooperate if she's not going to be brought along. Here, I'll give you my number and you can get it to your dad some how." Yukio nodded before jotting down her number. "Alright, I'll talk you ya later. Make sure you get that to him soon alright?" She said. Before Yukio could say anything more she hung up on him.

The boy stood there for a moment, holding the piece of paper in his hands before sighing and walking back into the room. Three pairs of eyes immediately turned to him.

"So?" Bon said, "Who was it?"

"It was Shura," he said, causing Mei's eyes to light up, "She, Scar, and the others are alright."

"Thank goodness," she said clasping her hands together.

"She wants to meet up so we can get you to Scar," he said before handing a phone number to Alphonse. "I need you to get this to my Dad. It's Shura's number."

"Wait, her phone is working?!" Bon questioned, "What about the rest of us? We were told they wouldn't work here!" Mei gave him a confused look but decided not to ask.

"Mephisto did something to her phone," he said as he grabbed the suitcases he had set aside, "But it's only for emergencies. Anyways, I have to get going. You need to get that number to him before the end of the day."

Alphonse nodded while Mei frowned. "Where are you going?"she questioned.

Yukio turned to face her as he stood in the doorway of the room. "Unfortunately I was transferred up north to Briggs," he explained, "I was supposed to head there earlier today, but then my brother showed up with you and you needed my help." He then turned to head down the stairs. "Well, I guess I'll be off then. I need to get to the station and hopefully catch a train within the next hour."

"Good luck, man," Bon said.

"Take care!" Alphonse added, causing the younger Mustang brother to smile.

He began walking down the stairs when all of a sudden Mei hopped out of bed. "Wait!"she cried before running up to him. She threw her arms around his his waist and squeezed him tightly. Yukio's eyes widened in surprise. "Thank you," she said as she stepped away.

Yukio smiled at her. "You're very welcome Miss…?" He started.

"Chang," she answered, "My name is Mei Chang."

"Well it was was pleasure to meet you Miss Chang," he responded before walking the rest of the way down the stairs and to the door, "Take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will!"she chirped, "You take care of yourself as well, Dr. Mustang!"

He nodded before finally leaving the house and locking the door behind him. His smile faded as he went to the street corner to hail a taxi and was replaced by a look of worry. He hoped everything was going to be alright while he was gone. Things were still so tense right now, and he could tell this little bit of peace wasn't going to last for anyone. Hopefully things would get better when he actually got to briggs, but he highly doubted that. He had heard that the general that was in charge wasn't the most lenient and he doubted she would be happy about him leaving late.

….

Olivier sat in her office reading through papers, her brow furrowed as she did so. Every so often she would glance at the clock, finding that not nearly enough time had passed. These past few days had been exceedingly long and tiring, not only physically so but also on her patience. Several of her men had suddenly falling ill with no explanation, and now she was having some brat transferred to her: a newly minted doctor and state alchemist named Yukio. It felt like an insult. Like the big wigs in central were saying that her doctor was so incompetent that even a child would better their situation. Olivier growled in annoyance. To add insult to injury, it was one of MUSTANG's brats! She hadn't met either of his children, although she knew he had two (thanks to how much her brother yammered on about them), but she expected this boy would be every bit as lazy and arrogant as his father.

His tardiness to depart for the mountain fort was already proof of his own incompetence. Couldn't bother to wake up at the right time to leave for train could he? Or was he just too indecent to check in ahead of time and let them know about his departure? Either way, she was definitely going to have to teach him some respect when he got here…

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door. "Come in," she said, not looking up as a man with dark skin with white hair tied back into a ponytail stepped in and saluted. "At ease, Major Miles," she said, finally looking up, "Now what is it? I don't suppose you know if our newest recruit has checked in yet."

"There's no word from Major Mustang," he stated, "But I'm not here to report on nothing. Bobby was found passed out in the third floor, west corridor."

Olivier looked up at him before her pen cracked in her hand as she squeezed it in frustration. The general sighed as she set down her writing utensil and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was sick of this. It started happening a week ago. Any man who had stayed in that corridor for longer than an hour at a time fell extremely ill. No one had died yet, but the infirmary's sick beds hadn't been this full in years, with almost a dozen men now residing there with no signs of getting better. No amount of medicine seemed to help, and the afflicted men just seemed to get sicker by the day… the general was completely vexed. Just what on Earth could be causing this?! Whatever it was. She would not stand for it any longer. Things were going to change, and fast. She was going to make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter just seems to take me longer and longer...Sorry guys. Hope you enjoy this one though. Also, sorry for no Rin and Ed in this chapter, They'll be sure to pop up in the next one. In the mean time, I do have crossover ask blog on tumblr for Edward and Rin that's separate from this story (it is a ship blog mind you). It's called Two-Angry-Shonen-Protagonists. Hope you guys like it! anyways, have a good day you guys, and please tell me what you think! Reviews really help motivate me. :)


	71. Bruising Irons of Wrath

“Seriously, where the hell could he be?” Rin hisses as they continued to wander the halls of Central command. They had searched three buildings so far, including the one containing Roy’s office but they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him... Rin was starting to get really worried. “You don’t think…” Rin began, almost afraid to say what was on his mind, “You don’t think he’s been kidnapped do you?”  
Edward frowned. “If he has we’ll figure out a way to get him back,” he said, “I doubt he’s dead. They’ve had ample reason and opportunity to kill him before, so I doubt that's the case.”  
Rin breathed out. “Well that’s a relief…” “But if they’re hiding him then where might he be?” He questioned. Up ahead they noticed an office door ajar. Rin recognized it as his Uncle Hughe’s door and ran up ahead. “Maybe we can get some info from Hughes!” Rin said before running down the hall.  
“Rin! Wait up!” Ed shouted after him as Rin scooted around the corner into the lt. colonel’s office. Ed followed him but bumped into Rin as the boy had stopped to stare at something. Ed turned and saw the mountains upon mountains of paperwork piled up on the wooden desk in front of them, two stacks piled so high they practically touched the ceiling, and between the two of them was the family man himself holding his head in his hands with a tired expression on his face. The usual joyful glint in his eye was gone and the edges of his lips sank low in a frown.  
“Uncle Hughes?” Rin questioned, “What is all this?”  
“Hell,” he said grimly, “I came in this morning to find all these Case file approvals dropped onto my desk, due by tomorrow.”   
“What?!” Rin cried, “All that?! By tomorrow?!” Maes nodded sadly.  
“That’s impossible!” Ed said, “There’s no way you can get that done!”  
“It doesn’t matter it has to be done,” he said, “Looks like I’ll be staying late tonight...and tomorrow, and tomorrow’s tomorrow….” “Sorry boys,” But I don’t have much time to talk,” he said, “If you need something you should ask roy.”  
“That’s the issue, though,” Ed said, “We can’t find the bastard!”  
Maes sat up. “Huh?” He said, “You still can’t get into contact with him? Why? What’s going on?”  
Ed and Rin looked at eachother. He must still be out of the loop.. Ed opened his mouth to speak before someone suddenly cut him off.   
“OH there you boys are!”boomed a jolly voice from behind them. They didn’t even have a moment to turn around on their own before a hand was clapped on each of their shoulders and they were forcibly turned towards the exit. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you two! Excuse me Lt. Colonel, I need to borrow these boys for a while. You look like you need to catch up on your work anyways.” Then the man with the familiar voice began pushing them out of the room.   
“Hey wait!” Ed demanded, trying to fight the man’s grip on his shoulder.   
Rin looked over his shoulder to snap at the man but gaped in confusion. He knew this tall, dark skinned man! “General Raven?”he questioned.  
The man chuckled. “Good to see you again, boys,” he said warmly as he walked them down the hall, “I’d ask you about how you’re doing but I’m afraid we don’t have time for chit chat. You two have been summoned for an important meeting.”   
Edward froze and the two boys exchanged worried looks. “A meeting? With who?” He questioned.  
“With the Fuhrer!”he said. This caused both boys to completely stop moving as their stomachs simultaneously dropped.   
“What?!” Rin cried.  
“I know!” The man chuckled, “It’s not everyday the Furher wants to speak with you personally. It’s quite exciting.”  
“No it’s not!” Edward snapped as they both struggled free of his grip and ducked under his arms to run. However they had not taken more than three steps before they noticed two guards holding up guns right to their faces. The boys completely froze as they stared down the barrels of the guns.   
“I’m sorry boys,” Raven said, voice much less jovial, “But I’m afraid this isn’t a meeting you can get out of.” Ed and Rin looked at each other, grimacing before they slowly raised they hands and turned back around, allowing themselves to be lead to down the hall at gunpoint, dragging their feet as much as possible all the way.   
…  
Shura hung up on her cell phone before pocketing it and heading inside the abandoned building. Well looks like things might go smoothly if they can pass along the message. All they had to do was get back in contact with Roy after this was all over and switch off the girl with her and maybe Ling if she can convince them, but she’d get to that when she got to it. For now, she just had to prepare them for what to expect.  
“Alright, Everyone, I made the call,” she said, “They’ll be getting our info soon enough and we’ll set up a time when we can meet them.”  
“How?” Dolcetto said, raising an eyebrow, “How are they supposed to contact us? Are you going to send one of us out there? And how did you even call them in the first place? I saw you! You were just standing outside with some like of colorful square up to your ear!” It was then that she noticed the suspicious look in all of their eyes, that is aside from Marcoh who was huddled in the corner trying to stay out of this as much as possible and Greed/Ling who was looking quite amused from where he was sitting. Yoki (who they had met up with after getting out), Doletto, and Scar however were definitely looking defensive at the least and hostile at the worst.  
Shura frowned. Well she should have seen this coming. She knew she was going to have to explain a lot more than she had. After all they would have to be stuck together for several hours. Them asking questions was bound to happen.   
So Shura gave a bored look and held up her cell phone. “This is how,” she said, turning it on and holding it up. The men blinked in surprise and their faces softened a little into more curious ones as it lit up. “It’s called a cell phone, they’re pretty common where I’m from,” she said, “Think of it like a long range walkie talkie that can connect to phone lines.”  
Yoki tried to move forward to get a closer look, almost entranced by the small device but Scar stopped him. He raised an eyebrow and and studied it carefully before speaking. “How?” He questioned, “How can it connect to phone lines without being connected itself?”  
“Magic,” she said in a deadpan tone, knowing what would come next.  
All three men frowned while greed/ling and marcoh looked confused. Scar looked the most furious of all though. “That isn’t a real answer! What the hell do you take me for, a simpleton?!” he growled, his eyes almost daring her to confirm that’s what she meant.   
“No. I don’t,” she said, “I told you before I work for someone powerful and lets just say he’s very supernaturally inclined. Something like this isn’t beyond his reach.”  
Dolcetto and Scar seemed to hesitate before backing off and accepting this, but Yoki scoffed. “Ridiculous,” he said, “You honestly expect us to believe that? You may dress like some kind of magician’s show girl but you can’t possibly expect that to be enough to convince us of these ‘super natural powers’ you’re talking about.”  
Shura raised an eyebrow at him in insult as she turned to him, eyeing him up and down. She then turned to Scar. “This idiot still doesn’t have a temptaint does he?” she questioned receiving a brief nod in response. “Thought as much,” she said, “Anyways now, that’s explained, I’ve sent a message to the military officer I’m working with. He’ll set up a rendezvous to trade off Mei and me and get you and Marcoh safely out of the ci-“  
“Hold on,” Scar said, a suspicious look in his eye, “Which military officer? Are you talking about Fullmetal?”  
“Well…” she said, “Kinda? Fullmetal will probably be involved but it’s actually Colonel Roy Must-“  
“WHAT?!” Scar cried, startling Shura, “ARE YOU INSANE?!”  
She crooked an eye brow “What?!” She responded, “What’s wrong?!”  
“THAT MAN SLAUGHTERED MY PEOPLE! THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG!” He shouted, causing Shura to be taken aback in shock, “HE BURNED THEM ALIVE, ALL OF THEM. AND YOU EXPECT ME TO TRUST HIM?!”  
Shura’s mouth was agape. “I’m sorry, he what?!”she nearly shrieked. She knew there had been a war with the Ishvalans and that's why Scar was attacking state alchemists, but this was the first she’d heard of Mustang’s involvement. Well...he was a soldier she supposed...but…  
“It’s true…” Marcoh spoke up, “he was one of the key state alchemists sent in to exterminate the Ishvalans...Although he may regret his actions…”  
“Miss Kirigakure I will not work with him,” Scar growled, “maybe the demon child is not what he originally appeared to be, but that man has the blood of my people on his hands, and most certainly would like to see me dead. He cannot be trusted.”  
Shura opened her mouth to speak but Dolcetto spoke up first. “Frankly, none of the military can really be trusted,” he growled. Yoki gave an offended look but the dog chimera continued. “I’m living proof of that. I was one of their own soldiers,” he said with a grimace, “And yet they turned me into what I am now. Countless others were used in their horrifying experiments too. We we weren’t of use to them anymore they proclaimed us dead and stuffed us into cages to experiment on us like animals until we were animals!” He looked away in disgust. “No Military officer, especially a high ranking state alchemist, can be trusted. You have no idea what he’s soiled his hands in.”  
Shura turned to him when Scar spoke up again. “We will not be working with Mustang. That is final!”he began walking towards the door, “Come on, We’re finding a new locat-“  
“No!” Shura shouted, she quickly jumped over his shoulder, summoning her sword at the same time. She stood in front of the door, sword held low in one hand, and the other stretched away from her side. The men immediately tensed and Yoki gaped.  
“H-How did she-“ he began, but Shura cut him off.   
“Look I know you have hard feelings about Mustang and his involvement in the war,” she began. Scar grimaced at her, causing her to wince. “Ok, bad choice of words,” she continued, “I know you are devastated by what Roy had done during the war. And you have every right to hate him! Your home land and people were destroyed.” “But we have to work with him right now,” she said, “I’m sorry but you have no choice.”  
“Because otherwise whatever little plan you hatched won’t work?” Dolcetto said, standing up with his sword, “This was a trap all along wasn’t it? You need us for something...maybe it’s to hand us over, maybe as your forced soldiers…” His eyes narrowed.  
“A trap?!” Shura cried, “Really?! After all we’ve been through today you think this is still a trap?! HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK I COULD HAVE PLANNED FOR ALL THAT?! I was EATEN ALIVE for God’s sakes! WHY OH WHY WOULD YOU BELIEVE I WOULD HAVE INCLUDED SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN A FUCKING TRAP?!”  
Dolcetto blinked before he heard a muffling come from behind him followed by a spitting noise. Greed/ling finally managed to get the sock gag off his mouth. “Ulgh...nasty,” he grumbled, “I’ll get you back for that Red. The sock and the whole kidnapping thing…to be fair she did in fact get eaten alive though. I can read some of the kid’s memories. He definitely recalls her getting eaten.” Everyone stared at him. “What?” he said.  
“Why are you supporting her?” Dolcetto questioned.  
The homunculus shrugged. “Eh doesn’t help my situation to lie or not, though I’m not really a fan of it anyways. Might as well tell the truth to get you idiots to stop screaming,” he said before smirking, “Sides’ I respect a lady who can cut her way out of a monster.”   
Shura raised an eyebrow. “If you’re trying to butter me up, it ain’t happening,” she said bluntly.  
The homunculus shrugged. “Worth a shot,” he said. Shura narrowed her eyes at him. At least she got one thing from him: Ling was still in there one way or another.  
“Ok, you have a good point. There’s know way this was a trap all a long,” Dolcetto conceded before turning back, “But I’m guessing that fight from yesterday was, wasn’t it? It was too originated not to be. And since you failed to capture us then, what’s stopping you from opportunism this moment to take us now?”  
“First of all the first trap wasn’t for you, it was for the homunculus,” she said, “Second of all what exactly would trapping you now accomplish? If we handed you over the government then you’d just end up vessels for Asteroth’s minions, which is the last thing we need, and the only one worth any information here is Marcoh so-“  
“Wait a minute…” Scar piped up, “What does Astaroth have to do with the Amestrian government? Are you saying demons control Amestris?”   
Shura stared at him for a moment before realizing that no one else besides her, Mustang, his sons, and Fullmetal knew about the Fuhrer and what he really was.  
She set down her sword and sat in front of the door. ”Here’s the deal,” she said, folding her arms, “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, aside from questions about Rin.” “But in return,” she said, glancing between them, “You have to trust me, you got that? You’re going to have to work with us, Mustang included, cause otherwise you won’t make it out of Central alive with all the demons and homunculi. Got it?”  
The two men shared glances, almost having a conversation between them with their eyes before nodding and sitting down in front of her. Shura smiled inwardly in relief. Well things were back on track. She hoped the boys were doing as well…  
…..  
The door swung open as the two young boys were forced inside. They stumbled and before they could even turn around the wooden double doors swung shut again behind them, locking as they slammed shut.   
“Jeez, could they be a little gentler? Have some respect! We’re still state alchemists after all…” Rin grumbled.  
“Yeah, state alchemists that pretty much committed treason,” Edward mumbled.  
Before Rin could respond, a familiar voice piped up.  
“Rin?! Fullmetal?!” The two turned just in time to see Mustang abandon his chair and walk briskly over to them.  
“Da-“ Rin started in confusion, but before he could finish his sentence he was engulfed in a tight hug from his father.  
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Roy breathed in relief as he clutched the boy close to him, almost as if he would slip through his fingers if he didn’t. And from Roy’s perspective, it really seemed like he might...For the past eight hours he had felt utterly helpless of the situation and terrified of not knowing what was happening. He had been completely isolated. Rin and the Elrics were the only things left that hadn’t been taken from them and for all he knew, they could have been killed, captured, or worse…  
But they were safe or at least they seemed so. Roy pulled away from his son to get a good look at Edward. He seemed alright, but no worse for wear over all. Still there was something very big missing that was causing a weight to form in his stomach. “Fullmetal, where is Alphonse?” He questioned.  
The boy raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes. “Glad to see your sense of urgency for my well being hasn’t changed,” he snipped with a smirk but continued before Roy could retort, “He’s fine. He’s at your house right now with Bon.” Roy nodded. Edward’s smile fell. “Now can you explain what’s go-“ however the young alchemist was cut off by a deep voice.  
“Colonel Mustang, please return to your seat, I did not permit you to leave it after all,” the voice quietly yet firmly demanded. The four turned to see the fuhrer standing beside his desk. The three alchemists gave him hostile glares, Roy’s being the most vicious. Bradley returned their gaze with an unperturbed, almost amused look. “Sit down now, all of you,” he demanded, “There is much for us to discuss about your recent ventures.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long guys. I’ve been extremely busy with school and running my ask blog, two-angry-shonen-protagonists, a blog dedicated to a ship between Ed and Rin (note, this fic is not one I plan to make an Edrin fic, but I might do a one shot in this univere about it seperately later). Some news though: I’ll be running a FMA crossover ship week in may if you guys are interested, as well as running fma au weel again in june! Feel free to look them up on tumblr if you’re interested. Anyways, have a nice day guys! Let me know what you think!


	72. That men should fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sheepishly peeks out* hey everyone....Sorry its been so long. I have an explanation but it’s a long one. *deep breath* ok, I had a really busy end of the semester so I didn’t really have time to write. Then when I got home from school I had eye surgery and couldn’t look at any screens for a week. Then I had to run crossover ship week on tumblr while my work started up, as well as start doing needle felt commissions because my work wasn’t giving me enough hours. Then I had some writers block and as soon as I got over it, I had to start preparing for fma au week while still running my fma/be ask blog, two angry shonen protagonists, all the while. I’ve also been preparing to go to taiwan to study abroad this summer for three weeks so....yeah....it’s been stressful to say the least. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to your comments guys, I really appreciate them. I hope you enjoy this chapter and have a wonderful day!

Rin and Ed glared in hatred at the man sitting across from them. Well, if they could even call him that. This creature could never be called human, whether he was a homunculus or not. He had destroyed thousands of lives with little to no remorse and would be willing to sacrifice thousands more for whatever their plan was. Rin wanted to punch him in the face right then and there, but seeing as he had left them all alone with him, clearly he was confident he could take them all. He could feel power like that of a demon coming off him in waves. Rin ground his teeth. Pretentious bastard. 

“So when you visited me in the hospital,” Ed growled, “That was all an act wasn’t it? You certainly had us all fooled…”

“What do you mean?” the man named Wrath said calmly, “I told you there were people you couldn’t trust in the military and that it was best to keep to yourself. You didn’t listen to me and now you’ve gotten yourself into a mess with things.” He sipped his tea. “For your sake, I recommend that you stop your digging before you get into further trouble,” he continued.

Rin scoffed. “What, or you’ll kill us?” he questioned, “You aren’t gonna scare us so easily, bastard. We know you won’t.”

Roy glared at his son. What was he trying to do? Dig them deeper into the hole they made?

The Fuhrer glared at Rin as well before responding. “That is true, you are important human resources,” he said, “But that is all you need to know. That doesn’t mean we can’t tighten your leashes. If you behave yourselves we won’t need to do that.”  
Edward growled. “You can’t tighten anything if we cut ourselves loose,” he snapped, slamming his blood stained watch on the desk, “I’m not gonna play your game. I refuse to be a tool for more bloodshed by your hands. I quit!”

Roy blinked in surprise. He knew Edward was brash but he hadn’t thought he’d be willing to give up everything he’d worked for just yet…he wish he had that courage.  
Rin did the same as Edward, slamming his own watch down on the table. “Same here,” he said, “No one’s gonna use me for anything, you got that? I’m no one’s tool. Certainly not a monster’s like you!” Roy’s jaw nearly fell open at that. He was half relieved, half shocked as both boys turned to leave. He would have said something, but the Fuhrer had spoken up first.

“Is that so... very well,” he said calmly before tapping his chin as he watched the boys leave, “before you go, however, remind me again. What was that blond girl’s name? Your automail mechanic... Winry, wasn’t it?” Edward froze in his tracks, his heart growing cold for a moment and skipping a beat before speeding up as he slowly turned to look at Wrath. Rin stopped as well,giving the Fuhrer a death glare. “She’s made quite a name for herself in Rush Valley, hasn’t she? It would be a shame for her to lose all that she’s worked for... or worse.”

“You BASTARD!” Rin shouted as both boys rushed back to the desk. Roy had to stand up and hold his son back to keep him from physically assaulting the powerful man.

“You leave her out of this!” Edward roared, slamming a hand on the desk, “She’s got nothing to do with this!!”

“She will stay out of this, if you two stay compliant,” Bradley said calmly, “Got it?”  
Both boys quieted down. The room was silent. Finally, Edward spoke up. “...If we stay out of your way, can Al and I continue our search to get our bodies back?” he asked.

“We will not stop any of you from pursuing personal goals unrelated to our endeavors,” Bradley responded curtly. 

The boys looked towards each other before nodding. Roy let his son go and they grabbed their watches. “Fine,” Edward relented, “We’ll stay.”

The Fuhrer smiled. “Very good then,” he responded before turning to roy, “And you, Mustang? What do you say?” 

Rin looked at his father’s face as they waited for him to speak. His expression was unreadable. “I still have my own ambitions,” Roy said simply, “those matter to me too much to leave the military yet.”

The homunculus smiled once more. “Very well then, you are all dismissed,” he announced as he stood up.

The boys headed for the door and Mustang followed after them. As soon as the door shut behind Ed and Rin, and Roy reached to open it again, the Fuhrer grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. “One last thing Mustang,” he said before whispering, “I know how clever you are. You’re the only one to beat General Grumman at chess after all. And I know this whole time you’ve been carrying a facade while you’ve been plotting to take my place one day.” 

Roy felt his throat constrict slightly as his heart thumped rapidly. “Sir, I have no idea-“

“Cut the crap, Mustang,” he growled quietly, like an angry wolf. He could feel his eyes boring into the back of his head as if he was imagining the best ways to kill him painfully. “I don’t care about your ambitions,” he said in a low voice, “You can try to rise to the top all you want. But if you try to sneak around and interfere with our plans like I know you’re already thinking about doing, you will regret the thought ever popping into your mind.”

Roy’s hands were shaking but he managed to force a chuckle. “What’s left to threaten me with?” he retorted, “You’ve take everyone I care about away from me in one way or another and you need Rin, Edward, Alphonse, and Yukio alive, so you won’t do anything to them. I’m already as much at your mercy as possible.”

Wrath chuckled. “If there’s one thing I know it’s that you can always find a way to hurt people more,” he said, making Roy’s heart fill with dread and confusion, “After all, we only need ONE of your sons alive. Rin. Yukio can be sent off to the front lines at any moment if we wish.” Roy’s eyes widened in disbelief. 

“No,” he whispered, “You wouldn’t dare!”

“I would,” he said, “And that’s still not the worst I could do.” He held up a file in his hands. “This is your record, Mustang. All your missions from Ishval are in here,” he continued, “I’m sure your sons know you were involved in the war, but do they know of all that you have done, how you murdered Miss Rockbell’s parents under military command? Do you think either of them would be able to look at you the same way knowing what you have done?” 

Roy felt like he was going to throw up, his entire being filled with trepidation . The mere thought of that happening threatened to break him. “You...You…” he wanted to curse and tear the man apart but he couldn't bring himself to do so. 

“You are dismissed now, Mustang,” the Fuhrer said calmly, as if nothing had transpired between them. Roy stood there for a moment, fire and ice and rage boiling inside him before he slowly nodded and reached for the door. When he stepped outside, he felt as fragile as a leaf. His mind was a whirlwind of panic. What was he going to do? The Fuhrer had him cornered. He didn’t just have the power to take his sons from him, but make them despise him as well. He didn’t know if he could handle that. But if he didn’t do anything, there was a possibility that Amestris itself could be doomed. What was he going to do?

“Dad?” He heard a voice call. He was broken from his thoughts and looked up to see Rin peeking from around the corner. “What are you doing? How long have you been standing there?” He asked , walking towards him, “Are you ok?”

Like the flick of a switch,Roy quickly hid his fear behind his usual facade. “I’m fine,” he said, “Just got lost in thought about our situation.” Rin nodded, accepting his father’s half lie as he turned back around and began walking back the way he came. Roy slowly followed after him, eventually catching up to Rin and Edward. 

…..

As Edward, Roy, and Rin walked down the hall, they were silent. For once, Rin himself was feeling rather hopeless, and it made him both terrified and furious. It took every ounce of control to keep himself from lighting on fire. Smoke was curling off his fingers as he clenched his fists.

Edward wasn’t much better off. His mind was in a state of turmoil from everything that had happened losing his friend Ling, discovering truth of the war, uncovering how deep this conspiracy went…and now finding out just how much of a leash they were on. It twisted his stomach to think about how he had put Winry in danger without even realizing it. Another person to add to the list of people he had failed.

And Roy? He was still recovering from the fact he had nearly everyone he cared about ripped from him! Even when it seemed like there was nothing more to take from him, the damn monster had found something else to threaten to strip from him…

But if these monsters thought that any of them were going to play their game now that they had dealt such a nasty blow, they had sorely underestimated them. There were three words floating through each of their minds simultaneously: This. Means. War.

“So…” Rin finally spoke, “what’s the plan now?” Roy stopped walking down the hall and turned to his son with a questioning look. “Well you aren’t gonna just take this lying down, are you?” Rin continued, “You’ve always some sort of plan or trick up your sleeve...and if not, you’re coming up with one as we speak.”

Roy stared at him. There was a genuine look in his eye, as if he really expected him to have something thought up already. It had been years since he’d seen that look and his eyes….or had he just not noticed it amid all the glares, eye rolling, and smug looks he had gotten from Rin over the years? Either way, he felt his stomach twist in guilt and he grimaced. Not only did he feel undeserving of such admiration after the little chat he had had with Bradley, he had not even a wisp of a plan. He honestly couldn’t see a way out of this situation at the moment. “Well, you’re right about one thing, I’m not going to take this lying down,” he said, “But as for a plan, I’ve got nothing at the moment...He’s played us well.” Rin frowned in disappointment. “But this is far from over…” he said with finality.

All of a sudden, they heard shouting down the hall. 

“I’m sorry sir, civilians are not allowed beyond this point,” an officer said, “You need an escort, or a tag to let you through.”

“Grrrr….” a familiar voice rang out, “Then why not be my escort yourself! This is important information! I need to get it to Colonel Roy Mustang.”

Roy blinked. Where had he heard that voice before? But Rin and Ed recognized it clearly as they had already bolted around the corner. As soon as they did, they spotted a tall boy with two toned hair that had been arguing with a guard. He was scowling and looked like he was about to say something else, until Rin and Ed interrupted him.. “Bon?” They asked in unison. What on earth was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be guarding that Xingese girl from demons?

Bon’s shoulders snapped up from their slight slump at the sound of his name and his head swerved to find who called him. His shoulders relaxed as he laid his eyes on Rin and Edward. Roy had just rounded the corner to see what was going on, raising an eyebrow at the exorcist from Assiah. Why was he here?

Bon smiled at their appearance. “Well this makes things a bit easier,” he said, pushing past the guard while pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. 

“Hey!” the guard snapped, reaching for Bon’s shoulder.

“At ease!” Roy barked, giving the guard a deep frown, “Leave the boy be.”

“You know this kid?” the guard questioned skeptically. 

“Yes I do, now leave him be,” Roy said before turning away and gesturing for Ryuji to follow, “Come on then, Suguro. You had something you needed to tell me?”  
Bon nodded and all three of them followed after Roy.

“Yeah,” Rin said, catching up, “I thought you were supposed to be watching that little girl.” Roy raised an eyebrow. What girl?   
“I was but there was a last minute change of plans,” Bon replied, “I’ll head back to that asap though.” 

“So what happened?” Ed asked.

“Shura called,” Bon explained, causing Rin and Ed’s faces to light up, “She told me to to deliver this number to you, Roy. You need to call her when as soon as you’re able.” He handed a piece of paper from his pocket to the colonel. 

“Thank goodness she made it out ok,” Rin breathed a sigh of relief, earning another look from Roy. Made it out ok?! Made it out of what ok?  
Bon nodded. “And Scar, Dolcetto, and a few others are with her,” he explained.

“Wait, why is Scar with Shura?!” Roy nearly shouted, “What’s going on? Did she capture him?” 

Bon looked to Rin and Ed. “You guys have been gone for hours and you still haven’t told him anything?” he demanded, “What have you been doing all this time?!”

Rin scratched the back of his head. “Well we kinda got...side tracked…” Rin said, “Ya see-“

“The Fuhrer was keeping Roy in his office this whole time,” Ed explained, “We couldn’t find him until we were taken in to have a ‘chat’ with the ass.”

“Threatening you to keep quiet I presume?” Bon asked. Ed could only nod. “Well, I can’t help you there unfortunately,” he said, “Anyways, you guys are gonna have to fill him in on everything that happened. I’ve gotta get back to Mei and make sure nothing has happened.” Ed and Rin nodded before Bon headed back down the hall. The two watched him leave. Edward frowned as he did. His mind went back to buzzing with thought. What was Shura planning that she needed Mustang for? What were they going to do without Mustang’s team? What was so special about them that made them ‘perfect sacrifices’? Also, were they actually holding Winry hostage as they had spoken? 

He grimaced with worry at the last thought. Winry...why did they have to drag her into this? Yukio he could understand, but why Winry? Well,he knew why, but that didn’t mean he liked it. She didn’t have anything to do with this. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if she was imprisoned somewhere, possibly being tortured because of him. He had to be sure she was ok. “Hey Colonel,” he said, holding out his hand, “Do you have any pocket change?”

Roy raised an eyebrow. “What does it matter?”

“I need to make a phone call. It’s important,” he said, waving his cupped finger back and forth for emphasis.

Roy sighed and checked his wallet. “I’ve got 520 cenz.” 

“Perfect, hand it over,” Ed said, frown lifting a little.

Roy glared at him and put his wallet back. “Oh no,” he said, “You aren’t getting anything until you explain to me exactly what happened.”

Edward pouted. “Come on! This is an important call to make!” He insisted, “Stop being a stingy bastard!”

“It’s not stingy to want to know what exactly is going on here!” Roy said, “We’re working as a team now, aren’t we, Fullmetal? That’s why I want to know exactly what happened between the time that we last saw each other and now.”

Edward sighed. “Fine, jackass,” he growled, as he and Rin followed Roy to his office.


End file.
